Tag: balkanization

Iraq

Kirkuk at question in Kurdish independence vote

Baghdad and Iraq's Kurdistan Region are at odds over the referendum on Kurdish indpendence to be held this month. A particular sticking point is the inclusion of oil-rich Kirkuk in the vote—not within the Kurdistan Regional Government's formal borders, but under its de facto control since Kurdish forces occupied the city with the collapse of the Iraqi army during the ISIS offensive of June 2014.

Iraq

Syria: will fall of Raqqa widen war?

With the Syrian Kurds now facing open war from both Turkey and the Assad regime, the imminent taking of Raqqa portends a multi-sided scramble for former ISIS territory.

Iraq

Iraq: Kurdistan to vote on independence

Authorities in Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region announced that a referendum on independence will be held in September—drawing immediate harsh criticism from Baghdad.

Syria

Syria: Trump approves plan to arm Rojava Kurds

TheĀ Rojava Kurds, caught in a pincer between Turkey and ISIS, are being forced to accept superpower aidā€”but with costs for Syrian revolutionary unity against ISIS and Assad.

Syria

Syria: Russia and Assad dropping Rojava Kurds?

Insistence on regional autonomy and a federal solution for Syria is straining the de facto alliance between the Rojava Kurds and Damascus, despite their mutual enmity for Turkey.

Europe

Scotland and Wales to enter Brexit lawsuit

The UK Supreme Court ruled that Scotland and Wales may join a case challenging Prime Minister Theresa May’s power to leave the EU without a parliamentary vote.

Iraq

Syria and Iraq in the Trump world order

Trump intends to divide Syria with Putin the way Hitler divided Poland with Stalin—but will the US will be able to control its sphere amid social collapse and sectarian maelstrom?

Greater Middle East

Syria: reject Arab-Kurdish ethnic war

The Turkish intervention in northern Syria has set off open war between Free Syrian Army factions and the Rojava Kurds—which only serves the interests of ISIS and Assad.