France’s recent flurry of diplomacy in Damascus, Baghdad and Erbil has prompted commentary suggesting a potential move toward the country’s “lasting presence” in Syria. On February 5, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot visited Damascus, Baghdad and Erbil in a day. Especially Barrot’s meetings with Kurdistan Regional Government President Nechirvan Barzani and PKK/YPG leader Mazlum Abdi were interpreted as France exploring ...
As regional tensions escalate between Washington and Tehran, Iraq finds itself once again at the heart of the storm, with growing activity from armed militias and volunteer groups ostensibly “defending Iran” amidst a complex political and security landscape. Just one day after the first round of US-Iranian negotiations in Muscat, which concluded without any clear results beyond an agreement to ...
By Shahab Nouranifar, Director of the Iraq and Syria Desk, Mersad Center for International Studies – Iran On January 27, Donald Trump, the President of the United States, published a tweet opposing Nouri al-Maliki’s candidacy for the office of prime minister. In a clear act of interference in Iraq’s internal affairs, he stated: “I have heard that great Iraq may ...
While US threats against Iran continue, the Islamic Republic may achieve a political victory in its neighbor, Iraq. The reason: The ruling parliamentary coalition in that country has nominated Nouri al-Maliki as its candidate for prime minister. In the country fractured by ethnic and sectarian groups after the US invasion in 2003, which left behind a balkanized political system, the ...
Iraq has held parliamentary elections to fill all 329 seats in parliament. The day was marked by increased voter turnout, and the results indicate progress for forces sympathetic to the resistance axis. Years after the US occupation, Iraq still has a fragmented structure, which is reflected in the political system, says Yakup Aslan, a journalist specialized on West Asian politics. ...
By Mohamed Sabreen, from Baghdad / Iraq There are many stories in Baghdad, and if you put the threads together, you will draw a complete picture of what is happening in Iraq. I believe that there are many faces of Iraq, each one seeking to secure its place in the new Iraq. However, what I witnessed was a “struggle for ...
By Muhammad Sabreen, from Baghdad / Iraq Could Baghdad reveal its secrets, just for the sake time in the capital of Mesopotamia? I had no idea what awaited me in a town rising from severe destruction. While the reality of what was happening was ambiguous and mysterious, the recent and distant pasts were tragic. Baghdad and the rest of Iraq ...
Prof. Dr. Fahri Erenel is a retired general of the Turkish Armed Forces, who is today working as an analyst, following regional developments very closely. In interview with UWI, he states that the US might have played a role in the recent terror attack in the Turkish city of Ankara, and places it into the broader context of the US’ ...
The “Kurdistan Party” and Israeli officials announced that they will hold a panel on November 14 titled “Israeli-Kurdish Alliance for a New Middle East: Future Risks and Opportunities.” The panel announcement states that “in parallel with HAMAS’s October 7th Al-Aqsa Flood Operation, Türkiye has also increased its attacks against the PKK/PYD in northern Syria, and therefore Kurdish-Jewish cooperation is urgent.” ...
By Abbas Djuma, Baghdad, Iraq The meeting of journalists with Iraqi Prime Minister Muhammad Shia al-Sudani in Baghdad is an extremely interesting and important event for the region and even the world. And here’s why. Firstly, the meeting overlaps with the annual procession of Shia Muslims, the Arbaeen. This religious ritual marks the end of the 40-day mourning period for ...
By Adem Kılıç * Türkiye’s military presence and operations in Iraq are also having an impact in Iraq after Syria, as a manifestation of Türkiye’s “eradicating terrorism at its source” approach since 2017. Launched in 2019, the Claw Operations aimed to end the presence of the terrorist organization PKK in northern Syria and Iraq and to sever the terrorists’ ties ...
We conducted an interview with Turkish journalist Ceyhun Bozkurt on Türkiye-US relations, Türkiye’s position in NATO and Türkiye’s alternatives to the alliance.In order to evaluate these properly, we looked at the situation in a wide geography from Iraq to Syria, from the Black Sea to the Eastern Mediterranean. The US continues to support the PKK/PYD terrorist organization. Washington recently announced ...