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KRG Cabinet Formation Deadlock Passes 653 Days, Longer Than Brussels or Belfast

Six hundred and fifty-three days have passed since the Kurdistan Region’s parliamentary elections on 20 October 2024, and the tenth cabinet has still not been formed. The figure exceeds every…
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In Damascus, a Flag Raising That Serves Erbil and al-Sharaa Alike

Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani was received by Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa at the People’s Palace in Damascus on Monday, with a giant Kurdistan flag raised beside Syria’s for the…
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The US Could Not Topple Iran’s Regime. Now It Is Trying to Crack It From Within.

The war has passed through three phases since February. The American and Israeli campaign that opened it to produce the collapse of the Islamic Republic, and the ceasefire of 8…
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Turkey Returns to Kirkuk: From a 10% Royalty in 1926 to a 15% Stake in 2026

Turkey’s state oil company TPAO has acquired a 15% stake in BP Energy Company of Kirkuk Limited, the contractor vehicle for the redevelopment of the Kirkuk oil complex. The agreement…
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As Iraq’s Oil Crisis Deepens, Syria Cashes In on the Land Corridor

Syria is increasingly benefiting from the land corridor carrying Iraqi oil to the Mediterranean as Baghdad comes under growing pressure from the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz. The…
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The Turkey-Israel Layer of the PKK Peace Process

The Turkey-PKK peace process contains a strategic layer that most analysis leaves out. Between late 2024 and mid-2026, the external power competing with Turkey over the future of the Kurdish…
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As the PKK Makes Peace with Turkey, It Is Quietly Building Up Along Iran’s Border

Despite the ongoing peace process with Turkey, under which it is expected to disarm and withdraw from its bases along Iraq’s border with Turkey, the PKK and its affiliates are…
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Turkey’s Kurdish peace process presses ahead after breakthrough over the ‘framework law’

Following months of slowdown caused by the Iran war and by disagreement over the nature of the draft bill that will pave the way for the return of PKK-linked fighters,…
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How Damascus Is Trading Institutional Manning for Coercive Penetration in Hasakah

The Syrian government has announced a provisional executive office in Hasakah province with a roughly 6:4 ratio favouring SDF-linked appointees over Damascus appointees. This has provoked criticism from some Arab…
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Why Turkey Intervened: The Strategic Logic Behind Ankara’s Opposition to an Iranian Kurdish Front

Kan News, Israel’s public broadcaster, citing senior Israeli officials, reported that Turkey threatened to provide air assistance to Iran if Kurdish forces invaded the country as part of a Mossad-coordinated…
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