Washington, which remains close to Baghdad, has been placed in a delicate position, as relations with Nato ally Turkey have become frayed in recent years. AP
Washington, which remains close to Baghdad, has been placed in a delicate position, as relations with Nato ally Turkey have become frayed in recent years. AP
Washington, which remains close to Baghdad, has been placed in a delicate position, as relations with Nato ally Turkey have become frayed in recent years. AP
Washington, which remains close to Baghdad, has been placed in a delicate position, as relations with Nato ally Turkey have become frayed in recent years. AP

US 'stands firmly' with Turkey after PKK attack but is walking fine line with Iraq


Willy Lowry
  • English
  • Arabic

Turkey’s crackdown on the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) following a suicide attack in Ankara has left the US in a difficult position.

While Washington has condemned the attack and voiced support for Turkey’s right to defend itself, mass arrests and air strikes in Kurdish areas of Iraq have led to the US needing to walk a fine line.

The US, along with Turkey and the EU, regard the PKK as a terrorist entity. But Turkey's counter-terrorism measures have included rounding up nearly 1,000 people in raids across the country as well as striking targets inside Iraq.

In the past, US President Joe Biden's administration has expressed concern over human rights breaches in Turkey, including in a 2022 country report in which the State Department claimed there were “credible reports” of killings, suspicious deaths of people in police custody, arbitrary arrests and the “continued detention of tens of thousands of persons”, among other issues.

On Sunday, Turkey launched attacks on 20 targets in northern Iraq – a move that drew condemnation from Baghdad.

“These violations are rejected by the Iraqi people, the [Kurdistan] region and all of Iraq's inhabitants,” Iraq’s President Abdul Latif Rashid said in an interview with Saudi-owned television network Al Hadath.

Washington, which remains close to Baghdad, has been placed in a delicate position, as relations with Nato ally Turkey have become frayed in recent years.

“We recognise the legitimate security threat the PKK poses to Turkey and we urge Turkey to pursue joint counter-terrorism co-operation with Iraq in a way that supports and respects Iraqi sovereignty,” US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters on Monday.

Though the US views the PKK as a terrorist organisation, it is allied with the Syrian Democratic Forces, which is primarily made up members of the Kurdish-led People's Defence Units.

The US sees the SDF as critical in the fight against the remnants of ISIS in the region.

It is a partnership that has angered and frustrated Turkey for years.

“This policy of the United States supporting the PKK’s Syrian franchise has been one of the top two or three irritants in US-Turkish relations since that policy was adopted in 2014,” Richard Outzen, a non-resident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council and retired colonel in the US military, told The National.

Mr Outzen believes that at some point, US support for the SDF will have to end.

“The returns have dropped and the costs remain exceptionally high,” Mr Outzen said.

“The contradiction within this policy is that we would somehow expect our Turkish Nato ally to provide broad geopolitical and security co-operation elsewhere in Syria, Iraq and in Ukraine and in broader strategic terms at the same time that we are arming, equipping and training part of their number one security threat could not be sustained forever.”

He called Washington’s support of the SDF a “flawed policy,” but acknowledged the US had invested too much to simply abandon it.

Meanwhile, Ankara has steadily reduced the PKK's abilities in Turkey and elsewhere.

“With a steady drumbeat, they are really attriting large numbers of PKK leadership, even junior leadership,” Mr Outzen said.

When asked about whether Turkey's targeting of the PKK makes long-term support for the SDF untenable, Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said only that the US military's Central Command remains focused on defeating ISIS.

"Any actions that further destabilise our mission, which is the enduring defeat of ISIS, don't serve that mission," she said.

CHATGPT%20ENTERPRISE%20FEATURES
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Super 30

Produced: Sajid Nadiadwala and Phantom Productions
Directed: Vikas Bahl
Cast: Hrithik Roshan, Pankaj Tripathi, Aditya Srivastav, Mrinal Thakur
Rating: 3.5 /5

MATCH INFO

Uefa Champions League, Group B
Barcelona v Inter Milan
Camp Nou, Barcelona
Wednesday, 11pm (UAE)

Milestones on the road to union

1970

October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar. 

December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.

1971

March 1:  Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.

July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.

July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.

August 6:  The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.

August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.

September 3: Qatar becomes independent.

November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.

November 29:  At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.

November 30: Despite  a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa. 

November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties

December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.

December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.

December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.

Tottenham's 10 biggest transfers (according to transfermarkt.com):

1). Moussa Sissokho - Newcastle United - £30 million (Dh143m): Flop

2). Roberto Soldado - Valencia -  £25m: Flop

3). Erik Lamela - Roma -  £25m: Jury still out

4). Son Heung-min - Bayer Leverkusen -  £25m: Success

5). Darren Bent - Charlton Athletic -  £21m: Flop

6). Vincent Janssen - AZ Alkmaar -  £18m: Flop

7). David Bentley - Blackburn Rovers -  £18m: Flop

8). Luka Modric - Dynamo Zagreb -  £17m: Success

9). Paulinho - Corinthians -  £16m: Flop

10). Mousa Dembele - Fulham -  £16m: Success

MATCH INFO

Uefa Champions League final:

Who: Real Madrid v Liverpool
Where: NSC Olimpiyskiy Stadium, Kiev, Ukraine
When: Saturday, May 26, 10.45pm (UAE)
TV: Match on BeIN Sports

MATCH INFO

Euro 2020 qualifier

Croatia v Hungary, Thursday, 10.45pm, UAE

TV: Match on BeIN Sports

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Heavily-sugared soft drinks slip through the tax net

Some popular drinks with high levels of sugar and caffeine have slipped through the fizz drink tax loophole, as they are not carbonated or classed as an energy drink.

Arizona Iced Tea with lemon is one of those beverages, with one 240 millilitre serving offering up 23 grams of sugar - about six teaspoons.

A 680ml can of Arizona Iced Tea costs just Dh6.

Most sports drinks sold in supermarkets were found to contain, on average, five teaspoons of sugar in a 500ml bottle.

Everton%20Fixtures
%3Cp%3EApril%2015%20-%20Chelsea%20(A)%3Cbr%3EApril%2021%20-%20N.%20Forest%20(H)%3Cbr%3EApril%2024%20-%20Liverpool%20(H)%3Cbr%3EApril%2027%20-%20Brentford%20(H)%3Cbr%3EMay%203%20-%20Luton%20Town%20(A)%3Cbr%3EMay%2011%20-%20Sheff%20Utd%20(H)%3Cbr%3EMay%2019%20-%20Arsenal%20(A)%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Central%20Bank's%20push%20for%20a%20robust%20financial%20infrastructure
%3Cul%3E%0A%3Cli%3ECBDC%20real-value%20pilot%20held%20with%20three%20partner%20institutions%26nbsp%3B%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3EPreparing%20buy%20now%2C%20pay%20later%20regulations%26nbsp%3B%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3EPreparing%20for%20the%202023%20launch%20of%20the%20domestic%20card%20initiative%26nbsp%3B%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3EPhase%20one%20of%20the%20Financial%20Infrastructure%20Transformation%20(FiT)%20completed%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3C%2Ful%3E%0A
What is the Supreme Petroleum Council?

The Abu Dhabi Supreme Petroleum Council was established in 1988 and is the highest governing body in Abu Dhabi’s oil and gas industry. The council formulates, oversees and executes the emirate’s petroleum-related policies. It also approves the allocation of capital spending across state-owned Adnoc’s upstream, downstream and midstream operations and functions as the company’s board of directors. The SPC’s mandate is also required for auctioning oil and gas concessions in Abu Dhabi and for awarding blocks to international oil companies. The council is chaired by Sheikh Khalifa, the President and Ruler of Abu Dhabi while Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, is the vice chairman.

Results

6.30pm: Maiden (TB) Dh82,500 (Dirt) 1,200m; Winner: Major Cinnamon, Fernando Jara, Mujeeb Rahman

7.05pm: Maiden (TB) Dh82,500 (D) 1,900m; Winner: Al Mureib, Fernando Jara, Ahmad bin Harmash

7.40pm: Handicap (TB) Dh102,500 (D) 2,000m; Winner: Remorse, Tadhg O’Shea, Satish Seemar

8.15pm: Conditions (TB) Dh120,000 (D) 1,600m; Winner: Meshakel, Xavier Ziani, Salem bin Ghadayer

8.50pm: Handicap (TB) Dh95,000 (D) 1,600m; Winner: Desert Peace, William Buick, Charlie Appleby

9.25pm: Handicap (TB) Dh87,500 (D) 1,400m; Winner: Sharamm, Ryan Curatlo, Satish Seemar

SPECS
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2-litre%204-cylinder%20petrol%20(V%20Class)%3B%20electric%20motor%20with%2060kW%20or%2090kW%20powerpack%20(EQV)%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20233hp%20(V%20Class%2C%20best%20option)%3B%20204hp%20(EQV%2C%20best%20option)%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20350Nm%20(V%20Class%2C%20best%20option)%3B%20TBA%20(EQV)%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EMid-2024%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ETBA%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Updated: October 04, 2023, 1:51 PM`