Amec.org.za

When Donald Trump was elected the forty-fifth president of the USA in November 2016, the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was among the first world leaders to congratulate him. His congratulatory phone call echoed Erdogan’s ambition to strengthen US-Turkish relations, which had gone cold over the US Syria policy under Barack Obama.

Washingtonpost.com | By Ahmet Turk *

I was first elected as mayor in Mardin in 2014. Yet just two years into my five-year term, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan cracked down on Kurdish politics and civil society, removing nearly 100 HDP mayors from our posts and replacing them with state appointees.

Al-monitor.com | Amberin Zaman

Protests over the dismissal of three Kurdish mayors from key cities in Turkey’s Kurdish-majority southeast region continued for a third day amid shocking displays of police brutality against civilians.

Reuters | By Umit Ozdal

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (Reuters) - Turkey on Monday replaced Kurdish mayors with state officials in three cities and detained more than 400 people for suspected militant links, the Interior Ministry said, a move likely to fuel tensions in the mainly Kurdish southeast.

Ctc.usma.edu (Combating Terrorism Center)

August 2019, Volume 12, Issue 7
Authors: Michael Knights
Categories: IranIraqCooperation, Competition, & FissuresStrategy, History, & GoalsBadr CorpsHezbollah & Other Shia GroupsIran Revolutionary Guard CorpsQuds Force

Washingtonpost.com | By Liz Sly 

QAMISHLI, Syria — At a closely guarded prison in this northeastern Syrian town, former Islamic State fighters make papier-mâché models of birds, flowers and trees while serving sentences that typically run two or three years.

Americanprogress.org | By Max Hoffman

Washingtonpost.com | By Masrour Barzani *

After 16 years of upheaval in Iraq and five brutal years of war with the Islamic State terrorist group, a foe that imperiled all of humanity, we are embarking on a new journey toward building a stronger Kurdistan. The next four years will be a defining time for us, our neighbors and our allies in which we, the Kurdistan Regional Government, look past our recent traumas, consolidate our place in the region and secure a presence on the international stage. In short, we want to make a new start.

The Kurdistan Parliament, meeting in Erbil on July 10, 2019, approved by a large majority the new government proposed by Prime Minister-designate Masrour Barzani.

Nytimes.com | By Brennan Cusack* | July 8, 2019

A campaign of silencing and prosecution is creating a vacuum at a pivotal moment.

Ms. Cusack, a journalist, was based in Cairo and Istanbul from 2017 to 2018.