Iraqi Kurdistan is on the verge of an historic proposed referendum on independence. In an exclusive interview with Manish Rai, editor of ViewsAround, Kurdistan's foreign minister, Falah Mustafa Bakir, outlined how an independent Kurdistan would co-exist with Baghdad and its other neighbors. How will you persuade powerful neighbors like Turkey and Iran to support Kurdistan? We assure our neighbors that this step will not go against the interests of these nations. We have always wanted good-neighborly relations based on mutual respect, understanding,...
Narendra Modi's recent visit to Israel was the first one made by an Indian Prime Minister in 25 years of diplomatic relations. Many analysts see it as a clear diplomatic tilt by New Delhi toward Tel Aviv after years of keeping its distance. Only a select few world leaders, such as the US president and the pope, receive Israel's grand reception at Ben Gurion International Airport Israel also assigned a lot of importance to this state visit. Only a select few...
Iran and Turkey, the two non-Arab Middle Eastern states, are among the largest and most populous in the region. The former occupies a strategic location on the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz, while the latter controls the Bosporus Strait, the Sea of Marmara, and the Dardanelles, which links the Black and Aegean Seas. The two nations descend from the most ancient civilizations in the world and have strong national identities. Turkey and Iran have been mirror images...
The Libya connection in the May 22 Manchester suicide bombing and the May 26 attack on Coptic Christians in Egypt has shed light on the threat posed by jihadist groups that have taken advantage of lawlessness in the troubled North African nation to put down roots, recruit fighters and export violence. Libya has been embroiled in violence since a 2011 uprising that toppled and killed long-time dictator Moammar Gaddafi. Libya, a country of about 6.4 million people, has a largely...
Since the creation of de-escalation zones inside Syria with Russia, Iran and Turkey as guarantors, discussions about partitioning the country are gaining momentum. This idea of a de jure partition of Syria was then-US secretary of state John Kerry's official Plan B, which he announced in February 2016. But at that time other major powers operating in Syria didn't show any interest in the idea. Now the situation has drastically changed and all the major powers and their proxies have accepted that they...
The recent Turkish air strikes on Kurdish positions in north-eastern Syria killed at least 28 members of the YPG (People's Protection Units), the armed wing of the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), and wounded 18 others. Since then there have been regular clashes between the YPG and Turkish forces in several areas in northern Syria. The operations against the YPG were not coordinated with the US-led coalition, to which the Turkish military gave only 52 minutes' notice to get its forces...
Iran's presidential elections, the 12th since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, are scheduled to be held next month, and local elections will be held alongside them. Pundits, the press and Iran-watchers are indulging in horserace analysis of the elections. Observers are wondering whether the so-called moderate incumbent, Hassan Rouhani, will retain his position, or be defeated by his likely contender, the hardline mullah Ebrahim Raisi, who is known for his key role in the 1988 massacre of more than 30,000 political prisoners. Any...
The Israeli airstrike in the city of Palmyra in mid-March targeting a weapons shipment meant for Hezbollah was the deepest raid into Syrian territory since the beginning of the Syrian civil war. It clearly shows that Israel is determined to stop Hezbollah from acquiring weapons. Despite these measures, Hezbollah is still a potent threat to Israel. Situated along Israel’s northern border, in Beirut’s suburbs, and throughout the Bekaa Valley, Hezbollah maintains an advanced military arsenal exceeding that of many...
The Iraqi military and its allies have nearly defeated Islamic State in its final and largest Iraqi stronghold of Mosul. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi in a recent visit to Mosul said the defeat of ISIS militants in Mosul is “inevitable.” Even ISIS chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has acknowledged his group’s defeat in Iraq and called on supporters to flee or carry out suicide attacks. The question remains whether crushing ISIS can end the decade-long Sunni insurgency. The obvious answer is that...
The new US President Donald Trump's decision to quickly slap new sanctions on Iran after it conducted a ballistic missile test clearly signals the hard turn the new administration intends to take with Tehran. Neutralizing the Iranian threat in the Middle East has been an American aim since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Arabs and Israelis alike will cheer Trump’s current hard line on Iran. But Iran is among the toughest foreign policy challenges United States have faced and President Trump...
Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad is starting to look that he will survive the uprising, even in the estimation of some of his staunchest opponents. It is a reality that almost everyone agrees that the Syrian regime has revealed an extraordinary ability to survive. Despite the blows it has sustained in the initial phases of the conflict it has not collapsed and has even succeeded in preserving the cohesion of its civilian government systems, military forces, and security systems. More important,...
Mr. Salih Muslim is the current co-chairman of The Democratic Union Party or PYD. The PYD is one of the most dominant players in Syria, mostly because of its control over most effective and formidable Kurdish militia YPG/YPJ, significant popular support, and its effective organization. In an exclusive interview with Manish Rai, Editor, ViewsAround (VA) he speaks about his party’s role in post war Syria. Question - What relations will be pursued by Kurds with government in Damascus after the...
Dr. Sherkoh Abbas is the president of the Kurdistan National Assembly of Syria (Kurdnas) the organisation created after the major uprising in 2004 (al-Qamishli protests in Syria). Abbas was born in Qamishli in north-eastern Syria and migrated to United States in 1980’s. He currently lives in Washington but frequently visits the Kurdish areas in Middle East. In an exclusive interview with Manish Rai, Editor, ViewsAround (VA) he speaks about Kurdish role in current situation. Question: In your opinion what should...
The start of the Syrian civil war in 2011 gave the historically marginalized Kurds their first real chance to assert their autonomy and to become a political powerhouse. Syrian Kurdish society now strongly feels that they can reverse the last half-century of assimilationist pressures and revive their cultural heritage and get their political rights. From the tome the Baathist Syrian regime came to power in 1970, Kurds in Syria have faced oppression. But since the war broke out, this repression...
After reclaiming almost all of Aleppo, Syria's former commercial capital, President Bashar al-Assad has got his biggest prize of the war. It would put his forces in control of the country's four largest cities as well as the coastal region, and cap a year of steady government advances. It should be remembered that more than half of Syria’s population lives in its four great cities: Damascus, Homs, Hama and Aleppo. Aleppo used to its biggest city before the uprising, so...
United States-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) are gradually pushing ahead in an offensive towards Raqqa, Islamic State’s de facto capital in northern Syria. The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have wrapped up the first phase of their operation against IS named Euphrates Wrath, according to SDF military sources. The first phase of the Euphrates Wrath aimed to isolate Raqqa from its northern countryside. This was accomplished by securing the towns of Tel al-Samn and Hazima, which link Ain Issa city...
There have been multiple diplomatic efforts to resolve the Syrian conflict since it erupted in 2011 but all have ended in vain. No agreement was reached or set out in a final document at the recent ministerial meeting on Syria held in the Swiss lakeside city of Lausanne. It proved to be a futile exercise. The meeting came to an end without even the release of a joint statement by its participants. With yet another failed peace talk on Syria, the...
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