Author: Mideast discourse

Four Turkish soldiers have been killed in a clash with fighters in northern Iraq, according to a statement by Turkey’s defence ministry. The ministry said late on Sunday that the incident took place in a region where Turkey has been carrying out a cross-border operation called Claw-Lock.Operations in the region are still ongoing, the ministry statement added.Turkey regularly carries out operations against Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) members based in the Kurdish region of northern Iraq.The PKK launched an armed rebellion against the Turkish state in 1984, first seeking independence and more recently, autonomy. More than 40,000 people have been killed…

Jordan on Sunday warned against the noticeable decline in international support extended to refugees in the Middle East and the related UN institutions. The Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi made the remarks at a meeting with UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Filippo Grandi in Amman, where he stressed the need for mobilizing joint action to provide a decent life for refugees and help host countries shoulder the burden of hosting them. Safadi praised the solid partnership between Jordan and UNHCR to present necessary services to about 1.3 million Syrians residing in Jordan, of which only 10 percent live in…

Germany crossed a red line that it shouldn’t have crossed when it began delivering lethal weapons of its own production to Ukraine, Russian Ambassador to Germany Sergei Nechaev said in an interview with Izvestia. “The very fact of supplying the Ukrainian regime with German-made lethal weapons, used not only against Russian military personnel, but also against the civilian population of Donbass, is a red line that the German authorities should not have crossed. Including taking into account the moral and historical responsibility of Germany to our people for the crimes of Nazism during the Great Patriotic War,” the Russian diplomat…

Four Palestinians were injured and 23 others were arrested during the Israeli occupation forces’ storming of separate areas in the West Bank. Wafa news agency reported that large numbers of Israeli occupation forces stormed the city of Jenin amid shooting, wounding four Palestinians, including a girl, and arresting seven others The occupation forces also stormed several neighborhoods in Nablus, Qalandia camps in Jerusalem, Aida in Bethlehem, and the towns of Ethna and Beit Awa, and arrested sixteen Palestinians. Source: SANA

As the deputy head of Russia’s Security Council said, the current ‘ultimatums’ are a warm-up for kids, a preview of demands to be made in the future Russia’s current negotiating position on Ukraine is nothing but a “warm-up for kids,” because the eventual demand may be the total surrender of the Kiev regime, the deputy head of Russia’s Security Council Dmitry Medvedev said on his Telegram channel on Monday. He drew attention to the Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky’s statement about his refusal to conduct a dialogue with those who put forward ultimatums. “The current ‘ultimatums’ are a warm-up for kids,…

The deputy chief of the Russian Reconciliation Center says three cases of shelling by Al-Nusra Front were recorded in Idlib de-escalation zone, Syria. The Russian Reconciliation Center for Syria announced that the militants of Al-Nusra Front carried out three bombing attacks against the Idlib de-escalation region in northwest Syria during the last 24 hours. Oleg Yegorov, deputy chief of the Center, said on Sunday that three cases of bombing by the terrorist Al Nusra Front were recorded in Idlib. On Friday, the Russian Center announced the liquidation of more than 20 Al-Nusra Front leaders and officials who were responsible for…

Six people were killed in a roadside bomb explosion in the Hasakah region of northeastern Syria on Sunday. The six victims, whose identities have not yet been released, were ambushed by Daesh (ISIL or ISIS) terrorists on the Khurafi route heading to the eastern region of Deir ez-Zur, according to the so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. According to the UK-based monitor, Daesh has carried out 130 terrorist attacks in 2022 in regions of northeastern Syria that are under the control of the US-backed Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), leaving 104 dead, including 37 civilians and 67 SDF fighters. Meanwhile, the…

Europe’s largest economy is expected to shrink next year The German economy is headed for a sharp decline next year, researchers from the Kiel Institute for the World Economy warned on Thursday. “The German economy is in a downward spiral. The recent price jumps for electricity and gas will reduce the purchasing power of private households and lead to a decline in private consumer spending. In addition, the slowing world economy will dampen not only exports but also investment activity. As a result, the German economy will slide into recession once again, at a time when it was just recovering from the…

The two leaders didn’t see eye to eye on who is to blame for the dangerous situation at the facility Russian President Vladimir Putin and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron spoke on the phone on Sunday, trading blame over the precarious situation at the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant in Ukraine. During the “detailed and frank exchange of views,” Moscow drew attention to Ukraine’s repeated shelling of the plant’s facilities, including its radioactive waste storage, “which is fraught with catastrophic consequences,” the statement from the Kremlin read. The Russian side also informed Macron of the steps Moscow is taking to protect…

Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator Thousands of Iraqis flooded the streets on Friday demanding a political overhaul. In scenes reminiscent of similar past protests in Lebanon, the Iraqi people are frustrated by the endemic corruption of political leaders. This anti-government protest began in October 2019 and has remained a constant source of unrest in Iraq. As in Lebanon, the corrupted ruling elite failed to form a government, which left the country in stagnation, and the people’s feelings on the boiling point. Steven Sahiounie of MidEastDiscourse interviewed Rafid Sadeq, well known Iraqi journalist and political talk show host, to get…