Video - Kurdish President Barzani: The Unity of Iraq Has Failed; The Kurdish People Should Decide about Statehood in Referendum.

Iraqi Kurdistan pres Massoud Barzani: "Era of Sykes-Picot is over, time to redraw Middle East boundaries"

Iraqi Kurdistan pres Massoud Barzani: "Era of Sykes-Picot is over, time to redraw Middle East boundaries" . (Guardian).

The president of Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish north has called on global leaders to acknowledge that the Sykes-Picot pact that led to the boundaries of the modern Middle East has failed, and urged them to broker a new deal paving the way for a Kurdish state.

Massoud Barzani, who has led the troubled country’s Kurds for the past decade, said the international community had started to accept that Iraq and Syria in particular would never again be unified and that “compulsory co-existence” in the region had been proven wrong.


“I think that within themselves, [world leaders] have come to this conclusion that the era of Sykes-Picot is over,” Barzani told the Guardian. “Whether they say it or not, accept it or not, the reality on the ground is that. But as you know, diplomats are conservatives and they give their assessment in the late stages of things. And sometimes they can’t even keep up with developments.”

Barzani said regional and global powers now needed to enshrine a new pact that would protect communities in Iraq and Syria, where divisions have become entrenched on socio-religious and sectarian lines. “There must be a [new] agreement, it is important to see what type of agreement it is, what mechanism it can bring and rely on to formalise things, and what will be its status.

When the formalisation of that agreement will be is not known yet. It’s illogical to continue or insist on repeating a wrong experiment that was repeated for 100 years and is leading nowhere.” Hmmmm........If Barzani really believes Turkey will be his BFF in the long run, than he's a bigger fool than i thought. Read the full story here.

Iran Yesterday : Last year, a controversial US Congress bill was drafted, proposing the division of Iraq into three states and allows the Kurdish forces and the Sunni tribesmen to be armed directly without Baghdad’s approval.

The draft of the US annual defense bill, which was released on April 27, 2015 by the House Armed Services Committee, urged the US government to recognize separate Kurdish and Sunni states and provide them with at least 25 percent of the USD 715-million aid planned to be given to the Iraqi government to help it fight the ISIL terrorist group.

The draft bill also said the figure could even amount to 60 percent of the money, about USD 429 million. Hmmm........Anyone still wondering why the Turkish troops are in Iraq?

IRGC Commander: Iran to Foil U.S. & Zionist Plot to Disintegrate Iraq, Syria.

IRGC Commander: Iran to Foil U.S. & Turkish Ottoman conquerors Zionist Plot to Disintegrate Iraq, Syria. (IH).

Speaking in a conference titled “Gaza, Symbol of Resistance” in Tehran on Wednesday, Major General Jafari emphasized that the plot by the Zionists and the US to disintegrate Iraq and Syria is part of a bigger scheme to harm Iran and its Islamic Revolution.

After failing to carry out their numerous plots against the Islamic Revolution, the Americans resorted to sowing discord among Muslim nations and regional countries in order to use the potentials of the Muslim world against the revolution, he said.

“We consider the scenario for splitting Iraq and Syria as an entirely Zionist and US plot and we will foil it,” the commander underlined.

“Today, no army is capable of standing against the movement of the Islamic Revolution,” Major General Jafari said, adding that the US and Israeli armies are fully aware that if they make a wrong move the movement will eradicate them.

Last year, a controversial US Congress bill was drafted, proposing the division of Iraq into three states and allows the Kurdish forces and the Sunni tribesmen to be armed directly without Baghdad’s approval.

The draft of the US annual defense bill, which was released on April 27, 2015 by the House Armed Services Committee, urged the US government to recognize separate Kurdish and Sunni states and provide them with at least 25 percent of the USD 715-million aid planned to be given to the Iraqi government to help it fight the ISIL terrorist group.

The draft bill also said the figure could even amount to 60 percent of the money, about USD 429 million. Hmmm........Anyone still wondering why the Turkish troops are in Iraq?

Quoting materials from Iran Front Page is permitted only if the source is mentioned by name.

Iraqi FM says could use military option against 'Neo Ottoman Conqueror' Turkey if forced.

Iraqi FM says could use military option against 'Neo Ottoman Conqueror' Turkey if forced. (ET).

Iraq’s foreign minister said on Wednesday it could resort to military means if forced to defend itself from what it says is an intrusion of Turkish forces into part of its north.

Turkey said it had deployed a force protection unit earlier this month to the area due to heightened security risks near a camp where its troops were training an Iraqi militia to fight Islamic State insurgents. Ankara acknowledged that there had been a “miscommunication” with Baghdad over the deployment.

Iraqi security forces have had only a limited presence in Nineveh province where the camp is located since collapsing in June 2014 in the face of a lightning advance by Islamic State.

Foreign Minister Ibrahim al Jaafari said Iraq was committed to exhausting peaceful diplomatic avenues to avoid a crisis with its northern neighbour Turkey, but insisted that all options remained open.

“If there is no other solution but this (military), then we will adopt this solution. If we are forced to fight and defend our sovereignty and riches, we will be forced to fight,” he told reporters in Baghdad. Read the full story here.

Video - Russian jets bomb ISIS oil tankers in Syria

Heavy-duty trucks loaded with oil continue to cross the Turkish-Syrian border as well, Rudskoy said. At the same time, the number of tankers on the northern and western routes used for transporting oil from Syria is declining, the general added.

According to satellite data, the number of oil tankers moving through the ‘northern route’ towards the refinery in the [Turkish] city of Batman has considerably diminished,” Rudskoy said, adding that the number of tankers using the ‘western route,’ between the Turkish cities of Reyhanli [on the Syrian border] and the city of Iskenderun, has decreased to 265 vehicles. Footage Syrian - Turkish border Below.

Anschluss - 'Disintegration of Iraq Major Objective of Turkish Invasion'.

Anschluss - 'Disintegration of Iraq Major Objective of Turkish Invasion'. (RT).

Turkey's invasion into northern Iraq could well be part of a plan to split Iraq into three separate states, undertaken with the approval of the US, while the recent Daesh attack on the Turkish troops plays right into the hands of Ankara, according to Russian political analyst and Middle East expert Semyon Bagdasarov.

On Wednesday, Daesh militants fired rockets at a base in northern Iraq, as they launched a wave of attacks against Kurdish forces.


The Turkish Armed Forces said its soldiers returned fire, with four of them sustaining minor injuries.
The expert says that it could well have been a planned act by Ankara.

“In fact, it is all about [the city of] Mosul — who takes Mosul and kicks Daesh out. The Turks want control over it. Well, in the worst case, jointly with Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga forces. To be more exact, with the Iraqi Kurdistan Democratic Party, led and controlled by Masoud Barzani, with whom the Turks, altogether, have a good relationship."

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu also said that Wednesday attack on its Iraq base by Daesh militants “justified the recent military deployment”.

Bagdasarov therefore said that it was, in fact, “an occupation of a territory of a different state” which Iraq is unable to withstand.

“I think that the decision to bring the Turkish military into the Iraqi territory has been agreed upon with the US. And America's current inaction speaks volumes. Then right after it there emerged information that US, Turkey and Iraqi Kurdistan decided to meet first in Ankara and then in Erbil to discuss the future of Iraq. Without Baghdad, without the central government. And it is easy to figure out what future for Iraq they foresee.” Hmmm........I've been saying for moths it's all about the oil........since day one. Read the full story here.

Prince Turki at @ecfr If you allow Iraq or Syria to break up, Turkey and Iran will disintegrate too in all-out free for all
— A Evans-Pritchard (@AmbroseEP) December 2, 2014

@MuratYetkin2 Turkey exports Kurd - Iraq oil, iraq complains to UN...ISIS heads for the oil fields, Emb staff hostage but OK ...Coincidence?

— MFS - The Other News (@MFS001) June 12, 2014

'Neo Ottoman conqueror' Turkey urges all citizens to leave Iraq immediately.

'Neo Ottoman conqueror' Turkey urges all citizens to leave Iraq immediately. (Taz).

Turkey’s foreign ministry issued a statement calling for any citizens in Iraq to leave immediately, Sputnik reported.

"We strongly advise those whose stay is not essential to leave those provinces as soon as possible," the statements reads. "The scope of our travel warning to Iraq has expanded to include all provinces except for Dohuk, Arbil and Sulaymaniyah."

All of the exempted provinces are in the northern region of Iraqi Kurdistan.

The foreign ministry cites increased security risks, such as threats targeting Turkish businesses, as well as concerns over violence, abduction, and other attacks.

In addition, the statement warns any Turkish citizens currently residing in the Iraqi Kurdish region to avoid any area where anti-terror operations are being carried out against Daesh, also known as ISIL/the Islamic State.


The statement comes amid rising tensions between Ankara and Baghdad. Last week, hundreds of Turkish troops and artillery units entered northern Iraq. Viewing the incident as a breach of sovereignty, the Iraqi government gave Turkey 48 hours to remove the military units.

Democratic Syria Assembly to be comprised of 42 people.

Democratic Syria Assembly to be comprised of 42 people. HT: ANF.

Participants of the Democratic Syria Congress seeking a resolution to the crisis in Syria have determined that Democratic Syrian Assembly will be comprised of 42 people.

Democratic Syria Congress seeking a resolution to the crisis in Syria continues in Dêrîk city in its second day. The congress is being held under the slogan “Towards building of a free and democratic Syria”, and participated by 103 delegates representing Syrian political, military and societal opposition organisations.
Following the decision to establish Democratic Syrian Assembly to serve as the political representative in Syria of Syrian Democratic Forces (QSD), participants have determined that the Assembly will be comprised of 42 people to operate in the coming period.
According to the initial reports received from the congress which continues closed to the press, the Assembly will involve;

- 13 members from Democratic Autonomous Administration,
- 1 member from Arab tribes,
- 1 member from Kurdish tribes,
- 3 members from the Political Consultation Board of Political Parties,
- 2 members from the Wheat Wave Movement (Teyar El-Qemih)
- 1 member from the Honor and Rights Agreement Community,
- 1 member from the Syrian National Democratic Consensus Committee,
- 1 member from the Shehba Regional Assembly,
- 1 member from each one of Turkmen, Assyrian, Arab, Syriac and Êzîdî peoples,
- 1 member from the youth,
- 1 member from the Syrian Democratic Modernity Party,
- 1 member from the Socialist Democratic Baath Party,
- 1 member from Jabal Arab,
- 1 member from Syrian National Mass,
- 5 members from the independent (to be elected by themselves).

A press conference on Democratic Syria Congress is expected to take place in the coming hours.

China calls for dialogue, Iraq's sovereignty and territorial integrity should be respected.

China calls for dialogue, Iraq's sovereignty and territorial integrity should be respected. (NAC).

China on Wednesday called for better coordination and dialogue as Iraq demanded Turkey withdraw its troops from northern Iraq.

"China is closely following the development of the incident. We noticed that defense ministers of Turkey and Iraq talked over phone about the matter," said Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying at a press briefing.

Iraq's sovereignty and territorial integrity should be respected, she said.

China urges state-to-state relations be handled in accordance with the UN Charter and basic norms of international relations, said the spokeswoman.

In the face of a grave terrorism situation, all parties should fight terrorism, and give full play to the leading role of the UN and its Security Council, Hua said.

All anti-terror operations should be carried out under international law, respect relevant UN Security Council resolutions, have the consent of countries concerned and truly help maintain peace and stability, she said.

The crisis was triggered over the weekend as reports stated that a Turkish training battalion, equipped with armored vehicles, was deployed near the city of Mosul in order to train Iraqi paramilitary groups against Islamic State militants.

Ankara claimed that sending troops to Iraq was in response to increased skirmishes with the IS in Mosul, the capital of Nineveh province which has been under IS control since June 2014.

Iraq on Tuesday said its sovereignty is a "red line" which neighboring Turkey must respect, rejecting the deployment of Turkish troops in northern Iraq without a prior agreement between the two countries.

Security and Defense Committee of Iraq calls for a review or cancellation of an agreement with the U.S. on security.

Security and Defense Committee of the Iraqi Parliament has called for a review or cancellation of an agreement with the U.S. on security.(SP).

The Security and Defense Committee of the Iraqi Parliament has called for a review or cancellation of an agreement with the United States on security over Washington’s lack of a clear reaction to the worsening situation in the country, committee member Hamid al-Mutlaq told Sputnik on Wednesday.

“The government and parliament need to review the agreement signed with the United States on security because the United States does not seriously care about its fulfillment. We demand that it be annulled,” al-Mutlaq said.

“Iraq will be protected only by its sons, and Turkey must withdraw [its troops] because Iraqi soil is holy and its sovereignty is the red line. We have the right to give this issue international character and demand Turkish troops be withdrawn through the UN Security Council,” al-Mutlaq continued.

On Monday, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Abadi gave Turkey 24 hours to withdraw its troops from Iraq to avoid the matter being reviewed by the UN Security Council. Turkey has refused to do so.

Iraq Sunni scholars reject 'Turkish aggression' call on Iraq gov to 'respond robustly' to the breach of sovereignty pic.twitter.com/Ifm37g0qTe

— Iraq Live Update (@IraqLiveUpdate) December 9, 2015

PM Abadi on aerial tour over base occupied by Turkish forces in north Iraq, according to state-funded Iraqia News pic.twitter.com/D52gMsJZzx

— Iraq Live Update (@IraqLiveUpdate) December 9, 2015

Iraq Parl't majority holder, Iraqi National Alliance 'strongly back' PM Abadi to take steps on Turkish violation pic.twitter.com/aCCsdjnloG

— Iraq Live Update (@IraqLiveUpdate) December 9, 2015

UN Takes No Action On Russian Call To Curb 'Reckless' Turkish Moves https://t.co/lri7LLFtT2 via @RFERL

— MFS - The Other News (@MFS001) December 9, 2015

#Iraq to Propose #Russia Joining Anti-Daesh Airstrikes https://t.co/L9GJZDxBEA via @SputnikInt

— MFS - The Other News (@MFS001) December 9, 2015