Video - Could Kurdish independence dream lead to a new Iraq war?

Kurdish representative Bayan Sami Abdul Rahman and Iraq scholar Abbas Kadhim debate the future of Kurdish independence.

Two years on and with a fresh joint offensive against ISIL under way, calls for Kurdish independence are getting stronger. But in the absence of any real power-sharing negotiations with the Iraqi government, some are left wondering if the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) is making a landgrab instead.

The KRG - with its own executive leadership, armed forces and diplomats abroad - is able to sign oil deals with foreign companies on its own. But the KRG say they are being held back: that the Peshmerga are not armed or trained properly, and that they cannot tap into the international market as freely as they would like.

If the autonomous Kurdish region were to declare independence, what would it mean to war-torn Iraq? Could it spark a new war?

'Sometimes NATO Ally & ISIL Airforce' - Turkish jets strike U.S.-backed Kurdish militia in Syria.

'Sometimes NATO Ally' - Turkish jets strike U.S.-backed Kurdish militia in Syria. (Yahoo).

ISTANBUL/BEIRUT (Reuters) - Turkish jets pounded a U.S.-backed group of Kurdish-led militia fighters in northern Syria with more than 20 air strikes overnight, highlighting the conflicting agendas of the two NATO allies in an increasingly complex battlefield.

The jets targeted positions of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in three villages northeast of the city of Aleppo which the SDF had captured from Islamic State, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said late on Wednesday.

The Turkish military confirmed its warplanes had carried out 26 air strikes on areas recently taken by the Kurdish YPG militia, the strongest force in the SDF, and that it had killed between 160 and 200 fighters.

The British-based Observatory monitoring group reported a much lower toll of 11 dead and dozens wounded. Officials of the Kurdish-led administration that controls much of northeastern Syria said dozens had been killed.

The air strikes, the heaviest against the YPG since Turkey launched a military incursion into Syria two months ago, came hours after President Tayyip Erdogan warned that Turkey could act alone in rooting out its enemies abroad.

They also came ahead of an expected visit by U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter to Ankara on Friday.

"From now on we will not wait for problems to come knocking on our door, we will not wait until the blade is against our bone and skin, we will not wait for terrorist organizations to come and attack us," Erdogan said in a speech on Wednesday. Hmmmm.....Erdogan Obama's BFF. Read the full story here.

Related:

Jaysh al-Thuwar (The Army of Revolutionaries) Media Center has announced that Turkey and the gangs attacked simultaneously and the revolutionary forces retaliated strongly against the attacks.
In their statement, Jaysh al-Thuwar said that following the bombing by Turkish aircraft, Turkey’s gangs attacked El Hisiyê and the Shehba Dam to invade.

The statement says the gangs in “Euphrates Shield” attacked from the north of the dam and ISIS gangs attacked from the Al-Wehshiyê and Tal Midîq side simultaneously, and that the “Euphrates Shield” gangs attempted to invade Al-Hesiyê from the Tal Malid village side.


Jaysh al-Thuwar said, “Our forces are retaliating strongly against the invading Turkish army. As a result of attacks by gangs allied with Turkey and ISIS gangs, there are intense clashes around the Shehba Dam and Al-Hesiye.”

Obama and BFF Erdogan agreed on throwing the Syrian Kurds under the bus.

Obama and BFF Erdogan agreed on throwing the Syrian Kurds under the bus. (HD).

Days after Turkish and American presidents, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Barack Obama respectively, held talks in Washington D.C. to discuss future phases of the joint fight against jihadists in Syria and Iraq, a delegation composed of United States’ soldiers and a diplomat has arrived in Ankara to find a formula over the role of the military wing of the Democratic Union Party (PYD) in plans to re-take the Manjib region.

With concerns that the PYD would take advantage of its battles against ISIL in northern Syria to increase its territory for future goals of declaring an autonomous region, Turkey has urged the U.S. not to regard this organization as a reliable partner in this fight. Last week’s intensive talks in Washington D.C. between high level officials sought to find an efficient way to let the PYD fight against ISIL but to disallow the group from taking direct control of the area.

The talks in Ankara are believed to have produced a formula satisfying both sides’ concerns. Washington is unwilling to stop using the PYD as an efficient military force in the anti-ISIL fight, while Turkey demands the U.S. to acknowledge the group as an affiliate of the PKK and understand that any support given to this group increases the capacity of the terrorist organization.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan negotiated hard terms with U.S. President Barack Obama and U.S. Vice President Joe Biden last week in Washington where he was attending the Nuclear Security Summit, Turkish sources said.

According to his report, the U.S. has asked for Turkey’s support to take back Manbij, which lies at the southeastern end of the 98-kilometer border Turkey shares with Syria that is controlled by ISIL. Turkey in return put forth two demands.

Erdoğan first demanded that the Syrian Arab tribes to be included in the Manbij operation leave the Syrian Democratic Forces, which is under the control of the PYD, and undergo “background checks.”

Turkey also demanded the U.S. increase its support for the groups Turkey supports at Marea, which is located on the southwestern end of the 98-kilometer border, with airstrikes. Hmmmm.....As i already said on Friday , Two hands on one belly BFF.

"Which terrorists will you never let take parts of Syria, Daesh?" CNN's Amanpour asks Erdogan. "No, YPG" he replies. pic.twitter.com/RAZi80WHRS

— Baroz (@PozeBaroze) April 1, 2016

Obama 'Admin' approving of Erdogan's plan to prevent breach by YPG & PYD in Manbij pocket?

Obama 'Admin' approving of Erdogan's plan to prevent breach by YPG & PYD in Manbij pocket? (HD)

During the much anticipated meeting between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his U.S. counterpart, Barack Obama, the leaders’ main focus was on upgrading the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in the aftermath of deadly attacks in Turkey and Belgium.

Obama reaffirmed U.S. commitment to Turkey’s security during the meeting.

Speaking after the meeting, Turkish presidential spokesperson İbrahim Kalın said that the U.S. had pledged to increase cooperation with Turkey in Ankara’s efforts to fight the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

Biden, who expressed American support for Turkey’s effort in fighting the terrorist group, also said the U.S. would work to develop a plan that would focus on U.S. and Turkish goals and Ankara’s “sensitive” approach to the region - specifically operations conducted around the Manbij pocket in Syria, Kalın said.    

The Manbij pocket is a “red line” of demarcation for Turkey that has pledged to prevent a breach of the western front by the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) and its military wing the People’s Protection Unit (YPG). 

Turkey considers both of the groups as terrorist organizations as it regards them as the offshoots of the PKK.

But the U.S. only designates the PKK as a terrorist group, and marks the PYD and YPG as reliable partners in the fight against ISIL. Hmmm........Two MB hands on one belly. 

#Erdogan and Obama have cut a deal and sealed #YPG fate before sealing #Syria borderhttps://t.co/J7v50tTCnv pic.twitter.com/2EmjNyPHJ9

— маяковский (@moscow_ghost) April 4, 2016

"Which terrorists will you never let take parts of Syria, Daesh?" CNN's Amanpour asks Erdogan. "No, YPG" he replies. pic.twitter.com/RAZi80WHRS

— Baroz (@PozeBaroze) April 1, 2016

Video - Germany: Blood on Frankfurt's streets & Station as Turkish Nationalists and Kurdish protesters clash.

Clashes erupted in Frankfurt between Turkish nationalists and pro-Kurdish protesters as riot police struggled to keep the groups apart, Thursday. Rival groups reportedly attacked each other with knives, screw-drivers and bottles. The violence resulted in multiple injuries and 50 arrests.