​​​​​​​Arab press: Intensive Russian - Turkish movements in Syria, protests escalating in Başûr Kurdistan

On Tuesday morning, Arab newspapers focused on the Russian-Turkish moves in Syria, in addition to the Turkish intervention in Libya, and the protests in Başûr Kurdistan.

'Intense Russian-Turkish movements in Syria'

The beginning of the Syrian issue, and in this context, Al-Sharq Al-Awsat newspaper said: “Russian warplanes resumed their raids on northwestern Idlib, and a Turkish soldier and two members of Faylaq al-Sham were wounded in a guided missile attack on a military base in the northern province that is subject to the ceasefire The site between Ankara and Moscow on March 5, and the de-escalation zone agreement in northwestern Syria.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights stated, "Yesterday, a Russian aircraft carried out an air strike on the Sheikh Bahr area in the northwestern countryside of Idlib governorate, in conjunction with the flight of Russian UAVs in the airspace of Jabal Al-Zawiya, south of the Syrian province."

The Observatory reported that a Turkish soldier from the occupation and two mercenaries guarding the Turkish base in the town of Ram Hamdan (north of Idlib), and they were from Fayleq al-Sham were injured as a result of targeting the base with an unknown-source guided missile.

After midnight, Sunday - Monday, the Damascus government forces launched missile strikes on separate areas of Jabal Al-Zawiya in the southern countryside of Idlib, with Russian warplanes continuing to fly over the "de-escalation" zone.

The Turkish occupation forces deployed on the international road to Aleppo - Latakia (M4) from the side of Jericho yesterday, and detonated an explosive device placed by unknown persons on the road.

Amidst the continuing tension in the countryside of al-Raqqa and al-Hasakah, the Russian forces and the Turkish occupation launched a new joint patrol in the countryside of al-Hasakah yesterday, where 4 Russian vehicles, likewise Turkish ones, set out from the Sherik border crossing with Turkey in the western countryside of Ad-Darbasiyah, and roamed the villages west, east and south of the city. Then it returns to its starting point.

The patrol was subjected to stones thrown by the people in the villages of Qaramanyah, Ghanameya, and Karabli, south of Ad-Darbasiyah, and the patrol was accompanied by two Russian helicopters overflowing.

Turkish military escalation confuses political solution in Libya'

Regarding the Libyan issue, Al-Bayan newspaper said: “Libya is facing the threat of a new military escalation, as Turkey continues to send shipments of death to Libya, with the aim of fueling the conflict and hitting the path of political dialogue. That would lead to an escalation of the military situation, while the Benghazi meeting warned of attempts to hijack the parliament.

Yesterday, air traffic monitoring sites monitored the landing of a Turkish military cargo plane at Al-Wataya base, western Libya, bringing the number of Turkish military aircraft that arrived in Libya to 25 since last October 23.

According to the "Flight Radar" application, which specializes in tracking air traffic, a Turkish military cargo plane coming from Mirzvon base in northern Turkey, an Airbus A400M-180, and Major General Khaled Al-Mahjoub, director of the moral guidance department in the Libyan army, said The Libyan army has monitored the arrival of Turkish aircraft and mercenaries during the past days.

The General Command of the Libyan Armed Forces affirmed its commitment and full adherence to the ceasefire agreement, and on the other hand, it expressed its concern about the increasing concentration of militias affiliated with the Government of National Accord in Tripoli and Misrata.

'A Kurdish spring or a seasonal confrontation with corruption'

Regarding the situation in Başûr Kurdistan, Al-Arab newspaper said: “Protests continue in the Kurdistan region of Iraq due to the delay in paying the salaries of employees and the rampant corruption in the security institutions, indicating a “Kurdish spring” against the parties that for years failed to manage the region.

While protesters set fire to the headquarters of the two main Kurdish parties, the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, in Sulaymaniyah, the security authorities responded by dispersing the demonstrations and shutting down a satellite station that supports the protests.

A medical source at Sulaymaniyah Hospital said, "A protester was killed and two others were injured in the district of Chamchamal in Sulaymaniyah Governorate."

The security forces fired at the demonstrators, and they filled streets and alleys, and pursuit operations are taking place.

The city of Sulaymaniyah - the second Kurdish city after Hawler in terms of political importance - is a traditional stronghold of social mobility against the political authorities, and it is often the spark of protest movements against the ruling parties, which are accused of corruption and monopolizing the region's wealth.

Unlike Hawler, Sulaymaniyah is distinguished by its interactive political activity and its constant desire for change, which led to the emergence of new political movements that compete with Talabani's party, such as the Change Movement founded by the late politician Nishirwan Mustafa, and it gained a popularity that almost surpassed the popularity of the large party in the city, but it removed it in some periods of leadership.

In recent years, Sulaymaniyah has witnessed the rise of the New Generation Movement led by Shaswar Abdul Wahid, the founder of the "NRT" channel, which was characterized by its harsh criticism of the policies of the two ruling parties.

The channel owned by Abdul Wahid was subjected to a series of closures by forces affiliated with Talabani's party, the latest of which was an operation on Monday, after it provided extensive coverage of demonstrations that erupted in the Bireh Makron district of Sulaymaniyah, during which branch offices of the two major parties in Kurdistan were torched.

The Kurdish region is experiencing a severe economic crisis, due to Baghdad's refusal to send all the money that the Kurdish government requests to pay salaries, and to only secure a specific part of it, based on the federal government's assessment that the Kurdistan region is exaggerating the number of its employees in order to obtain additional funds from the country's public treasury.

The demonstrators accuse the Kurdish authorities of pledging the region's oil for the benefit of foreign parties in exchange for receiving millions of dollars in commissions outside the limits of the law.

Driven by popular pressure, Talabani's party appears closer to an understanding with Baghdad than Barzani's party.

And a large segment of the Kurdish public in Sulaymaniyah says that Barzani's party is obstructing the understanding with Baghdad by showing it as arbitrary against Kurdish rights.

Many parties in Sulaymaniyah are hinting at various options to get out of this crisis, one of which is to go to a direct and individual understanding with Baghdad regarding the salaries of Sulaymaniyah employees, away from the intransigent positions of Erbil. Others hint at the option to separate Sulaymaniyah from the Kurdish region and declare it an independent region, an option that the Iraqi constitution allows under specific conditions.

Observers believe that Talabani's party may use the popular protests in its stronghold of Sulaimaniyah to pressure Barzani's party to show more flexibility during salary negotiations with Baghdad.

Based on this reading, observers show a lot of caution about describing the Sulaymaniyah protests as the "general Kurdish popular movement", given that it is limited to one out of three cities in Kurdistan, which are Hawler, Sulaymaniyah and Dohuk.

The internal competitive nature in Sulaymaniyah between Talabani's party, the Change Movement and the new generation may cast some political shadows on the motives of the Kurdish protests.

T/S

ANHA