ISIS Retreating from Kobani, Says Kurdish Official

Rishi Iyengar  4:58 AM ET

TIME

The radical Islamist militants now reportedly control only 20% of the border town, as opposed to about 40% before

The Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) has suffered setbacks and has begun retreating from parts of the Syrian border town of Kobani, according to a local official, who said Kurdish forces were advancing against the militant group.

Idris Nassan told the BBC that ISIS had previously controlled almost half the town but currently occupies “less than 20%.”

White House insists anti-Isis strategy is on track despite setbacks on the ground

Isis advances on Baghdad and Kobani despite 21 air strikes

Turkey bombs Kurdish targets in south-east of country

Dan Roberts in Washington and Constanze Letsch in Istanbul

The Guardian, Tuesday 14 October 2014 20.31 BST

The Guardian

The US-led campaign to combat Islamic State (Isis) fighters in Syria and Iraq is facing a growing crisis of confidence as setbacks on the battlefield coincide with efforts to improve allied coordination and calls for President Barack Obama to escalate the military attacks.

Isis onslaught against Kurds in Syria brings ‘man-made disaster’ into Turkey

In the border town of Suruç, there is anger and despair among the Syrian Kurd refugees who have joined the exodus

Constanze Letsch in Suruç

The Guardian, Monday 22 September 2014 20.43 BST

In the small bus shuttling passengers between Gaziantep and the small predominantly Kurdish border town of Suruç, all conversation is focused on one topic only.

“Suruç is teeming,” says Izzettin Abdi Hacirashad, 51, a spare parts trader. “In the parks, the bus station, the streets. Everywhere. You will see.”

Longtime Rivals Look to Team Up to Confront ISIS

The New York Times

By TIM ARANGOSEPT. 9, 2014

BAGHDAD — As the United States and its allies look to fight the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, longtime adversaries with a common fear of the radical movement are scrambling to see if they can cooperate to defeat the rising threat.

The jihadist group known as ISIS has so far thrived in part because its enemies are also enemies of one another, a reality that has complicated efforts to muster a strong response to its rampage. That factor has been a crucial consideration in war planning in capitals as diverse as Tehran and Washington, London and Damascus. But the potential threat has also forced a re-examination of centuries old tensions between Sunnis and Shiites, Kurds and Turks.

Kurdish region is exploring whether to be part of Iraq or whether to be independent

The Washington Post

BY KAREN DEYOUNG AND STEVEN MUFSON July 2 at 8:46 PM

Iraq’s Kurdistan region is pursuing two separate paths to the future, one as part of Iraq and one as an independent state, said senior Kurdish officials who met with Secretary of State John F. Kerry on Wednesday in Washington.

But even if a suitable government is formed in Baghdad — for Kurds, one that does not include Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki — “we are not ready to go back to pre-June 9,” when Islamist militants began their advance across the northwest part of the country, said Fuad Hussein, chief of staff to Massoud Barzani, president of the Kurdistan Regional Government.

Ένα σενάριο για την Τουρκία! Διαβάστε και κρατήστε το στο συρτάρι σας.

του Σάββα Καλεντερίδη

Σε λίγες ημέρες ολοκληρώνεται ο προεκλογικός αγώνας στην Τουρκία και σύμφωνα με τις δημοσκοπήσεις, το κόμμα του Ρετζέπ Ταγίπ Ενρτογάν θα καταγάγει σημαντική νίκη, πετυχαίνοντας ποσοστό που θα ξεπερνά του 45%. Το κρίσιμο για την επιβίωση της κυβέρνησης Ερντογάν, παρά τα υψηλά ποσοστά που θα λάβει στις εκλογές, είναι η πολιτική που θα ακολουθήσει σε δυο βασικά ζητήματα. Το ένα είναι το λεγόμενο "βαθύ κράτος" και οι μηχανισμοί του, ο ισχυρότερος από τους οποίους είναι οι ίδιες οι Τουρκικές Ένοπλες Δυνάμεις, και το άλλο είναι το Κουρδικό Ζήτημα.

Το βαθύ κράτος αποτελεί φυσική και πολιτική απειλή για τον ίδιο τον Ερντογάν και για το κόμμα του, και θα εξηγήσουμε γιατί.