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Finland says YPG is not a terrorist group
Helsinki does not share Ankara’s view that the People Protection Units (YPG), the PKK group's Syrian wing, is part of the terrorist organization, Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto said Tuesday.
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Iraqi Kurdistan opens Zet border crossing with Turkey
On Wednesday, the Soran Administration in Iraqi Kurdistan officially opened the Zet border crossing, marking the region's third international crossing with Turkey.
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Iraqi Kurds keep nervous eye on Turkish election race
As Turkey's presidential vote nears, Iraqi Kurds are keeping a close watch on the tightest electoral battle yet for Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the outcome of which could have major security and economic implications for their region.
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KDP withdraws from crucial UN meeting in Kirkuk over security measures
The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) on Wednesday withdrew from a crucial meeting between Kurdish parties in Kirkuk and the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), citing "humiliating" security measures as the primary reason for their departure.
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Roadmap in the works to mend Syria-Turkey ties: Russia
Russia said on Wednesday that a roadmap to normalize ties between Syria and Turkey will be drafted following a meeting of their foreign ministers in Moscow, Agence France-Presse reported.
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Iraqi PM to visit Kurdistan Region
A member of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) announced the Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammad Shia al-Sudani to planned to make a visit to the Kurdistan Region.
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FDD warns about Erdogan's attempt to discard election results
The Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) has warned in an article written by Sinan Ciddi that Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is likely to discard the results of the upcoming Turkey presidential elections, planned to be held on May 14.
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Will the Turkish State Accept Kilicdaroglu as President?
It was the perceived need by the Turkish state to check the Kurdish political movement that precipitated the transition to the presidential system. Today, it is Kemal Kilicdaroglu's determination to abolish this system that has secured him the support of the Kurdish movement and set him on a path to victory on May 14.
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Turkey’s first-time voters rally around opposition in crucial polls
“10 GB of free internet per month, that’s rich,” says Kaan Erdinc, a 19-year-old first-time voter in the coastal town of Izmir, mocking incumbent president Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s promise to university students. “This government has already blocked half of the sites I’d want to use.”
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Turkey’s drones are killing Kurdish children in northeast Syria
Ahmed Abed Al Khani Salam, the 11-year-old son of impoverished farmers from rural Tell Hamis in Kurdish-run northeast Syria, had big dreams. In September 2022, he began working in a popular roadside supermarket on the main road running from the Iraqi border to the area’s informal capital, Qamishli. “Mama, I will rise to become a manager here. I will earn and send you more money. Believe me,” the boy would tell his mother over the phone after bookkeeping lessons from the store’s accountant. “He was bright, hardworking and big-hearted,” recalled the shop’s owner, Ari Ahmed Abdurrahman, on a recent afternoon.
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Would Turkey’s Erdogan accept an election loss after recent comments?
With just 11 days to go until presidential and parliamentary elections in Turkey, politicians' rhetoric is growing more ferocious and physical violence is rising.
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Turkish jets hit mountain in Dohuk
Iraqi media outlets reported on Saturday that Turkish drones bombarded villages in Matin Mountain in Dohuk governorate in northern Iraq.
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Arab League readmits Syria as relations with Assad normalise
Arab League foreign ministers have adopted a decision to readmit Syria after more than a decade of suspension, consolidating a regional push to normalise ties with President Bashar al-Assad.
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Australian Ambassador visits Kirkuk, meets governor
Australian Ambassador to Iraq Paula Ganly on Friday made a visit to the city of Kirkuk and met with governor Rakan Al-Jubouri.
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Erdogan claims Turkey discovered oil field in strategic Kurdish region
Turkey Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan claimed to have discovered an oil field with a production capacity of 100,000 barrels in Sirnak Province, located in the Kurdistan region of Turkey.
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Kurdistan never forgets Iran’s assistance: Nechirvan Barzani
President of Iraqi Kurdistan region Nechirvan Barzani has expressed appreciation for the support Iran provided Iraqi Kurdistan during times of crisis. Barzani said on Thursday that Kurdistan will not support any country against Iran, whether it is Israel or others, according to Shafaq News.
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AKP officials make contradictry claims over gov’t’s alleged talks with Ocalan
Two officials from Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) have made contradictory statements regarding claims that the government is engaging in talks with Abdullah Ocalan, the imprisoned leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), the Arti Gercek news website reported on Friday.
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Iran judiciary chief calls for identifying hurdles on investment in Kurdistan province
Iran's Judiciary Chief Gholam-Hossein Mohseni Ejei said there were many God-given capacities, deputies and potentials in Kurdistan province, in the northwest of Iran, but it should be found why investors do not use them.
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Syria’s Kurds turn to UAE to ease tensions with Assad*
An alleged trip to the UAE capital by Syrian Democratic Forces chief Mazloum Kobane, which Emirati officials deny, came just before he was targeted by a Turkish drone last month.
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Kilicdaroglu vows to end the appointment of trustees to municipalities in Turkey Kurdish region
Leader of Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party and presidential candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu has promised to stop the practice of removing duly elected mayors from the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) and replacing them with government-appointed trustees, the Kronos news website reported.
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Iraq seeking deal on Kurdistan Region oil exports within weeks
Iraq and and the autonomous Kurdish region in the north are hoping to reach an agreement to resume oil exports to Turkey.
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Arab foreign ministers call for withdrawal of "illegal foreign forces" from Syria
Arab foreign ministers from Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Egypt, Jordan, and Syria have called for the withdrawal of "illegal foreign forces" from Syria and emphasized the need for a political solution to end the Syrian crisis.
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The Turkish Elections and the Future of Northwest Syria: Scenarios and Policy Implications /Fares Halabi
Introduction In mid-March 2023, amid the widespread destruction caused by the Feb. 6 earthquake in southern Turkey, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared that the country’s presidential and parliamentary elections would take place on May 14, notwithstanding the ongoing recovery efforts.
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Turkey closes airspace to Armenian flights over monument unveiling
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said the monument in Armenian capital Yerevan which commemorate the killings of Ottoman officials responsible for Armenian genocide show that “Armenians are not well-intentioned” towards Turkey.
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Iran, Syria ink 15 cooperation documents
Iran and Syria have signed 15 cooperation documents in the presence of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad in Damascus.
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Iranian President Raisi pays visit to Syria
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi arrived in Damascus on Wednesday for a state visit at the invitation of his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad.
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Interior minister say Erdogan ordered him to appoint trustees to Kurdish municipalities
According to Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu, President Tayyip Erdogan six years ago told him: “Suleyman, I am giving you this instruction. You will remove them from their positions.”
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Kurdish MP urges Iraq's top court to revoke minorities seats in Kurdistan Region parliament
A Kurdish MP in the Iraqi Council of Representatives requested Iraq's Supreme Federal Court to revoke the allocation of 11 quota seats for minorities in the Kurdistan Region parliament.
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Iraq suffers losses due to Kurdistan’s oil exports halt
An official in the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) revealed on Monday that a joint delegation from the Iraqi Ministry of Oil and the Ministry of Natural Resources in the Kurdistan region of Iraq will visit the Turkish capital, Ankara, to discuss the resumption of oil exports through the Turkish port of Ceyhan, after it was suspended for more than a month, following an international judicial decision, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed reported.
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US urges Erbil to set aside problems with Baghdad
The US wants the Kurds and Iraqi government to set aside their differences and work for the public good, assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs Barbara Leaf said today, as they did to address the recent disruption of northern Iraq crude exports via Turkey.