ANKARA: Turkey, Iran and Iraq on Thursday warned of possible countermeasures against the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) if it goes ahead with its independence referendum for Iraqi Kurdistan.
The foreign ministers of the three countries issued a joint statement underlying their concerns that the referendum, scheduled for Sept. 25, could trigger regional conflicts.
“The three ministers emphasized that the referendum will not be beneficial for the Kurds and the KRG, and agreed, in this regard, to consider taking countermeasures in coordination,” the statement read, without elaborating on the measures.
The statement urged the international community to intervene, reiterated the ministers’ commitment to maintaining Iraq’s territorial and political unity, and described the referendum as unconstitutional.
Turkey has the largest Kurdish population in the region, and Ankara — which said the vote would be a “grave mistake” — worries that it could boost separatist sentiment among Turkish Kurds.
Considered a terror organization by Turkey, the US and EU, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) has been conducting an armed insurgency against the Turkish state for more than three decades.
As a show of force, Turkey moved tanks and troops to its southern border with Iraq ahead of the vote, with rocket launchers affixed on armored vehicles directed at the frontier.
Turkey’s Habur border crossing is economically vital for the KRG, as it is the main passageway for cross-border trade for landlocked Iraqi Kurdistan.
Trade between Turkey and KRG reached $8.5 billion last year, and there are about 1,300 Turkish companies operating in Iraqi Kurdistan. Turkey is also a key buyer of oil and natural gas from the KRG.
Ahmad Majidyar, resident fellow and director of the IranObserved project at the Middle East Institute in Washington, said the joint statement means to send a strong signal to the US and European powers that if they do not stop the referendum, the consequences will be dire.
“Both Turkey and Iran have threatened retaliatory measures, including border closures and economic sanctions, if the KRG goes ahead with the referendum. But it’s too soon to determine if their tough rhetoric will translate into action,” Majidyar told Arab News.
But despite recent steps by Tehran and Ankara to reconcile their differences and cooperate more on regional issues, there is deep distrust between them, he added.
“Turkey, for example, wouldn’t want to cut all relations with the KRG and allow Iran and other regional countries to fill the void,” he said.
Although Ankara has legitimate fears about the referendum, Majidyar said it has to consider both its strategic and economic interests, as Iraqi Kurdistan exports more than 500,000 barrels of oil per day via Turkey to the Mediterranean.
“Irbil and Ankara have also had close military cooperation, and Turkey has military bases in Iraqi Kurdistan,” he added.
“It’s unlikely that Ankara will sever all relations with the KRG, even if the latter proceeds with the referendum next week.”
Mehmet Seyfettin Erol, head of the Ankara-based think tank ANKASAM, told Arab News that the joint statement is an ultimatum to the KRG, and shows its three neighbors’ determination to coordinate against a perceived common threat.
Gulriz Sen, an Iran expert at TOBB University in Ankara, said the statement demonstrates a strong alignment of interests in opposing Kurdish demands and aspirations for independence.
“Even though maintaining the territorial integrity of Iraq has always been a common objective for Turkey and Iran, regional geopolitics so far have drawn Turkey and Iran apart by deepening their rivalry in the Syrian and Iraqi crises,” Sen told Arab News.
“This statement once again shows their mutual stance vis-a-vis the Kurdish issue. There were already hints of possible cooperation and coordination with the high-level visit of Iran’s chief of staff, Gen. Mohammad Bagheri.”
Sen said the three countries seem united in exerting military and economic pressure on the KRG, as shown by Turkey’s recent military drill at the Iraqi border.
Turkey’s National Security Council and Cabinet will convene on Friday to announce what countermeasures will be taken if the referendum goes ahead.
Turkey, Iran, Iraq join forces to thwart Kurdish referendum
Turkey, Iran, Iraq join forces to thwart Kurdish referendum
Devastated Lebanon village marks Eid among its dead
- Israel has regularly carried out often-deadly air raids in south and east Lebanon since the ceasefire, striking what it says are Hezbollah military targets that violated the agreement
AÏTAROUN, Lebanon: In the war-devastated southern Lebanese village of Aitaroun on Monday, residents marked the Muslim holiday of Eid Al-Fitr among their dead.
Relatives crowded the village’s cemeteries to pray for the more than 100 residents, including fighters from Hezbollah, killed during the war between the militant group and Israel that ended with a fragile ceasefire in November.
“We defied the entire world by being here in Aitaroun to celebrate Eid with our martyrs,” Siham Ftouni said near the grave of her son, a rescuer with an Islamic health organization affiliated with Hezbollah.
“Their blood permitted us to come back to our village,” she said.
During the war, Lebanese state media reported that Israeli troops used explosives in Aitaroun and two nearby villages to blow up houses. The town square is heavily damaged.
Few people have returned to live or to reopen businesses.
The story is the same in other villages in southern Lebanon.
In Aitaroun, more than 90 of the village’s dead — including some who died from natural causes — were buried only a month ago when Israeli troops pulled out.
Under the ceasefire, Israel had 60 days to withdraw its troops from southern Lebanon, but it did not pull most of them back until February 18 after the initial deadline was extended.
On Monday, beneath yellow Hezbollah flags, Ftouni and other women clad in black let their grief pour out.
A young girl sat near the grave of a woman, holding her photo surrounded by flowers.
Other pictures, of infants and young men in military uniform, lay on top of graves, and the sound of funeral orations triggered tears.
Some visitors handed out sweets and other foods to mourners who came from further away.
“This year, Eid is different from the years before,” said Salim Sayyed, 60, a farmer originally from Aitaroun. “Aitaroun, which lost more than 120 martyrs including many women and children, is living a sad Eid.”
He added: “The will to live will remain stronger than death.”
The war saw the killing of Hezbollah’s leader Hassan Nasrallah and other commanders, and the group’s military infrastructure was devastated. Yet it continues to proclaim victory after more than a year of conflict that escalated to full-blown war and killed more than 4,000 people in Lebanon.
Despite the ceasefire deal, Israeli troops remain inside Lebanon at five points it deems strategic.
Both Hezbollah and Israel have accused each other of truce violations.
Israel has regularly carried out often-deadly air raids in south and east Lebanon since the ceasefire, striking what it says are Hezbollah military targets that violated the agreement.
On Friday Israel bombed southern Beirut for the first time since the truce after rockets were fired toward its territory.
Imad Hijazi, 55, a taxi driver, said the security uncertainty was no deterrent to those wanting to spend Eid beside the graves of their loved ones.
“The sadness was immense. Everyone was shaken by the loss of loved ones. I lost 23 members of my family in an Israeli strike,” Hijazi said.
“I was ashamed to convey Eid greetings to my relatives or my friends.”
At least 322 children reportedly killed in Gaza in 10 days: UN
UNITED NATIONS: Israel’s renewed offensive in Gaza has reportedly left at least 322 children dead and 609 wounded in the Palestinian territory in the past 10 days, UNICEF said Monday.
The figures include children who were reportedly killed or wounded when the surgical department of Al Nasser Hospital, in southern Gaza, was hit in an attack on March 23, the UN children’s agency said in a statement.
UNICEF said most of these children were displaced, and sheltering in makeshift tents or damaged homes.
Ending a nearly two-month ceasefire in the war with Hamas, Israel resumed intense bombing of Gaza on March 18 and then launched a new ground offensive.
“The ceasefire in Gaza provided a desperately needed lifeline for Gaza’s children and hope for a path to recovery,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell.
“But children have again been plunged into a cycle of deadly violence and deprivation.”
Russell added: “All parties must adhere to their obligations under international humanitarian law to protect children.”
The UNICEF statement said that after nearly 18 months of war, more than 15,000 children have reportedly been killed, over 34,000 reportedly injured, and nearly one million children have been displaced repeatedly and denied basic services.
UNICEF called for an end to hostilities and for Israel to end its ban on humanitarian aid entering Gaza, which has been in force since March 2.
It also said children who are sick or wounded should be evacuated to receive medical attention.
“Food, safe water, shelter, and medical care have become increasingly scarce. Without these essential supplies, malnutrition, diseases and other preventable conditions will likely surge, leading to an increase in preventable child deaths,” UNICEF said.
“The world must not stand by and allow the killing and suffering of children to continue,” it added.
Syrians rejoice during first Eid after Assad’s fall
- “The joy of liberation and victory is immense, but there’s still a lot of work ahead. This is only the beginning of the road”
DAMASCUS: Eid Al-Fitr in Syria was charged with newfound joy this year, as thousands freely celebrated the holiday for the first time after the fall of Bashar Assad.
From the early morning hours, crowds of men, women and children flocked to pray at Damascus’s historic Umayyad Mosque in the Old City.
“This is the first time we truly feel the joy of Eid, after getting rid of Assad’s tyrannical regime,” Fatima Othman told AFP.
Following prayer, worshippers exchanged Eid greetings while street vendors sold colorful balloons and toys to children posing for photos with their parents.
“Our celebration is doubled after Assad’s fall,” said Ghassan Youssef, a resident of the capital.
A few kilometers (miles) away, on the slopes of Mount Qasyun overlooking Damascus — a site previously off-limits to Syrians until Assad was deposed on December 8 — a few thousand people gathered at Unknown Soldier Square for an open-air prayer.
Among them were members of the security forces and the army, dressed in uniform and armed. The road leading to the square was packed, according to an AFP photographer.
Some worshippers distributed sweets to celebrate, while the three-star Syrian flag, adopted by the new authorities, waved in the air.
Under the previous government, access to the Unknown Soldier monument was typically restricted to Assad and his close associates, who would lay wreaths there during national ceremonies.
The memorial, where a giant screen broadcast the Eid prayer, is near the presidential palace.
There, interim President Ahmed Al-Sharaa prayed alongside Syria’s new mufti Osama Al-Rifai and several cabinet ministers in the presence of a large crowd.
He later delivered a speech emphasising the country faced “a long and arduous road to reconstruction but possesses all the resources needed to recover.”
This came two days after the formation of a new government, which faces daunting challenges in a country devastated by 14 years of civil war.
Wael Hamamiya, who had been in Sweden since the early days of the conflict, returned to Damascus to celebrate Eid with his family.
“This is my first Eid here in nearly 15 years. I truly feel the celebration in its full meaning,” he told AFP, beaming.
“Everyone who has come is over the moon. This is the celebration of celebrations!“
The occasion was more somber for some Syrians, who were able to visit the graves of loved ones that had been off-limits during Assad reign, especially in former opposition strongholds.
At Al-Rawda Cafe in Damascus, 36-year-old Amer Hallaq chatted with friends after returning from exile in Berlin where he ended up after dodging compulsory military service in 2014.
“For years, I thought I’d never see my family again or celebrate Eid with them,” Hallaq said.
“The joy of liberation and victory is immense, but there’s still a lot of work ahead. This is only the beginning of the road.”
Israeli finance minister Smotrich resigns from post as minister in government
JERUSALEM: Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich resigned from his post as minister on Monday in a letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
A spokesperson for Smotrich said the move was a protest against nationalist-religious Jewish Power party head Itamar Ben Gvir’s request for more ministerial positions upon Ben Gvir’s return to the government.
The resignation is not likely to collapse Netanyahu’s coalition. The government passed its 2025 budget in Israel’s parliament last week.
At least 10 people dead in Syria as gunmen target civilians in Tartus and Homs
- Attackers, who remain unidentified and at large, opened fire in Haref Nemra, a village in the Baniyas countryside in Tartus
- In early March, Islamist-led forces killed over 1,000 Alawites in coordinated assaults on coastal areas including Latakia and Baniyas
BEIRUT: A 12-year-old boy was among four people killed on Monday in Syria’s Tartus province, a coastal region home to a majority Alawite population, provincial officials said in a statement.
The attackers, who remain unidentified and at large, opened fire in Haref Nemra, a village in the Baniyas countryside in Tartus. The Tartus province’s general security forces are pursuing those involved “to bring them to justice,” said Amer Al-Madani, Baniyas’ head of security, who spoke in a video posted on the province’s official Facebook page.
Kamal, a resident of a nearby village and a relative of three victims who asked to be identified only by his first name out of fear of reprisals, said the masked gunmen, whom he believed to be government security forces, arrived at the village seeking the mukhtar, a local leader who represents the community in administrative matters, before opening fire, killing at least four people, including a 12-year-old and an 80-year-old from the same family.
Kamal said he was citing accounts from three other witnesses. The sequence of events has not been independently verified, and there is no official statement on the details of the attack.
Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) is the Islamist group whose leader, Ahmad Al-Sharaa, played a key role in the overthrow of former President Bashar Assad and is now Syria’s de facto president.
The attack forced dozens of families to flee from the Baniyas area, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based war monitor. Kamal also said many in Baniyas escaped to nearby mountains. “No one here feels safe,” he said. “All main roads are empty most times because people are scared to go outside.”
Separately on Monday, two unidentified gunmen killed six people in Homs, a city in western Syria known for its religious diversity, with a majority of Sunni Muslims and a significant Alawite minority, a sect of Shia Islam primarily based in Syria.
The attack took place in the Karm Al-Zeitoun neighborhood, claiming the lives of three children and their mother, who all belonged to the Alawite sect, as well as two house guests from the Sunni community. The attack also left the father seriously wounded. There has been no official comment on the incident from the government or relevant authorities.
Syria’s Alawite community in Syria has faced escalating violence, with reports of massacres and targeted attacks.
In early March, Islamist-led forces killed over 1,000 Alawites in coordinated assaults on coastal areas including Latakia and Baniyas, carrying out executions and burning homes, leading to mass displacements.
The attacks, among the deadliest in Syria’s modern history, saw militants rampage through Alawite-populated coastal provinces and nearby Hama and Homs, killing civilians— including entire families— in homes and on the streets. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported nearly 200 deaths in Baniyas alone.
Witnesses identified the attackers as hard-line Sunni Islamists, including Syria-based foreign fighters and former members of Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham, the disbanded insurgent group that led the December Assad ousting. However, many were also local Sunnis, seeking revenge for past atrocities blamed on Alawites loyal to Assad.
While some Sunnis hold the Alawite community responsible for Assad’s brutal crackdowns, Alawites themselves say they also suffered under his rule. The international community has urged Syria’s new government to protect minorities and prevent further violence.
