Author: Bejne Gelavej

Officials in the Joe Biden administration have privately expressed concern that progress in the initial phase of the Ukrainian offensive is very slow. The New York Times writes about it. “They are behind schedule,” a senior US presidential administration official commented on the results of the first two weeks of the counteroffensive, calling the results “sobering.” A senior Pentagon interlocutor also acknowledged the slower-than-wanted pace of the offensive. At the same time, he added that given the fortified defense line of the Russians, this did not come as a surprise, and urged not to draw any general conclusions at the first stage.…

A Swedish court has jailed a Kurdish man for four-and-a-half years for crimes including attempting to finance terrorism. It is the first time Sweden’s updated terror laws have been used in a case involving the Kurdish militant PKK. Turkey has long called on Stockholm to crack down on Kurdish separatists. Sweden’s bid to join Nato has been delayed principally by Turkey’s demand that it extradites dozens of people it views as terrorists. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will meet the Swedish prime minister in Lithuania on Monday ahead of a Nato summit, where Sweden is hoping to be welcomed into…

Aid Gate Organization (AGO) conducted household assessments in Akre between 29 March and 5 April 2023. Questions were asked around social cohesion, conflict sensitivity, livelihoods, climate change and computer skills in order to learn more about the context in Akre. To complement these household assessments, AGO then organised Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) with young men and women in the Akre Youth Centre on 11 April 2023. AGO was able to receive more information through these FGDs as they allowed for a smaller group to build trust and share more detailed information than through the household assessment. It also allowed for…

AKIPRESS.COM – Turkmenistan banned the sale of electronic cigarettes, turkmen.news sources say. These cigarettes spread widely in a country where conventional tobacco products are almost completely banned. Buying disposable electronic cigarettes, reusable vape devices, spare parts for them, as well as filling liquids has recently become almost impossible. Officially, no regulations were issued, the goods simply disappeared from sale. Sellers tell buyers that they have been banned. Previously, it was easy to buy electronic cigarettes, they were sold online and offline. In particular, high-end night shops throughout Ashgabat have become a popular place to sell this product. These shops are owned…

In eight days, “we will emerge as the clear winners,” declared Kyriakos Mitsotakis, leader of New Democracy and the Prime Minister, during a public gathering in Kypseli, a suburb in central Athens, on Saturday. “I have traveled throughout Greece, and I will continue to do so until the very last moment of the campaign period. My aim is to persuade Greek men and women that we must continue on this path of success. We must look forward, set high goals, and avoid going back to the past at all costs,” emphasized the Prime Minister to the public. Despite challenges such…

The Kurds, one of the indigenous peoples of the Mesopotamian plains, are an ethnically and religiously distinct nation in the Middle East without their own formal, independent state. In the early 20th century, the Kurds wished to have their own homeland – Kurdistan – and received provision for one in the 1920 Treaty of Sevres after World War One. However, three years later, the Treaty of Lausanne, which set modern Turkey’s territorial boundaries, failed to fulfill the promise of the land for the Kurdish state. In the decades following, subsequent efforts for the formation of an independent Kurdish state failed. Today, there…

The Kurdish people are a heterogeneous ethnic group whose ethnic background comes from many regions including Iraqi Kurdistan, and parts of Iran, Turkey, and Syria. The Kurdish ethnic group includes many ancient ethnicities that have been absorbed into modern cultures including Iranian, Azerbaijani, Turkic and Arabic cultures. In this sense, the Kurdish culture shares commonalities with many other regional cultures, and celebrates a unique level of cultural equality and tolerance. The Struggle for Kurdish Cultural Survival In addition to political repression, the Kurds have also experienced cultural repression. In Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria, there were extensive campaigns at forced assimilation. Kurds were forbidden to speak Kurdish in public, they…

ERBIL — Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani on Monday received Iraqi Minister of Planning Mohammad Tamim to highlight regional developments, including the growing need to pass the federal budget. “During the meeting, we discussed the general situation in Iraq, and highlighted the imperative to pass the federal budget bill in the national assembly as quickly as possible,” read a statement released by the Kurdish leader today. The prime minister hoped that the passage of the federal budget bill will lead to the resolution of other problems between Erbil and Baghdad within the framework of the country’s constitution. “We also stressed…

Is there a Western preference as Turkey approaches a major inflection point on May 14? Would the United States and Europe prefer President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to remain in power or finally see some change in Ankara? The conspiracy-prone Turkish public opinion is often obsessed with external forces seeking to shape its destiny. The choice is of course for Turks to make in their own presidential and parliamentary elections. But because Erdogan is a master tactician at mobilizing such anti-Western domestic sentiment in his favor, there is much prudence, especially in Washington, not to take sides beyond pronouncements reminding the…

The Kurdish Freedom and Democracy Alliance announced that its member parties will support the candidate of the Nation’s Alliance and the leader of the Republican People’s Party (CHP), Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, in the presidential elections. According to Mezopotamya Agency (MA), the alliance’s statement titled “We will give our vote to Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu for change and normalization” says the following: “This election is a turning point in many ways. Turkey will either rapidly slide towards a current authoritarian, arbitrary, one-man regime, or it will enter a process towards change, normalization, and democracy. Our side will be in favor of change, normalization, and…