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Iraq Rejects Turkish Strikes in Kurdistan Region, Seeks Resolution 

A man waves an Iraqi national flag as protesters gather in Baghdad's Tahrir square to mark the 4th anniversary of the 2019 anti-government demonstrations on October 1, 2023. (AFP)
A man waves an Iraqi national flag as protesters gather in Baghdad's Tahrir square to mark the 4th anniversary of the 2019 anti-government demonstrations on October 1, 2023. (AFP)
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Iraq Rejects Turkish Strikes in Kurdistan Region, Seeks Resolution 

A man waves an Iraqi national flag as protesters gather in Baghdad's Tahrir square to mark the 4th anniversary of the 2019 anti-government demonstrations on October 1, 2023. (AFP)
A man waves an Iraqi national flag as protesters gather in Baghdad's Tahrir square to mark the 4th anniversary of the 2019 anti-government demonstrations on October 1, 2023. (AFP)

Iraq rejects repeated Turkish air strikes or the presence of Turkish bases in its Kurdistan region and hopes to come to an agreement with Ankara to solve this problem, Iraqi President Abdul-Latif Rashid said in comments aired on Monday.

Türkiye said on Sunday it carried out air strikes in northern Iraq that destroyed 20 targets belonging to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) after the militant group said it orchestrated the first bomb attack in Ankara in years.

Türkiye regards the PKK as a terrorist group and regularly carries out air strikes in northern Iraq, which has long been outside the direct control of the Baghdad government.

Türkiye has also has sent commandos and set up military bases on Iraqi territory to support its offensives.

"These violations are rejected by the Iraqi people, the (Kurdistan) region and all of Iraq's inhabitants," Rashid said in an interview with broadcaster Al-Hadath, a short clip of which was aired on Monday.

It was not clear whether the interview was filmed before or after Sunday's Turkish air strikes.

Rashid said such strikes sometimes killed civilians, including people visiting the region who "become victims of Turkish bombing."

Türkiye has denied targeting civilians and says it works to avoid civilian casualties through its coordination with Iraqi authorities.

Rashid is a member of the Iraqi Kurdish PUK party that has close ties to Iran and has criticized Türkiye’s strikes in Iraq's north.

Rashid said Baghdad hoped to come to an agreement with Ankara to resolve the issue in a manner similar to a security agreement Iraq has inked with Iran to deal with Iranian Kurdish separatist groups in the Kurdistan region.

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US Eases Restrictions on Syria While Keeping Sanctions in Place

A worker stands at a bakery after the ousting of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, January 6, 2025. (Reuters)
A worker stands at a bakery after the ousting of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, January 6, 2025. (Reuters)
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US Eases Restrictions on Syria While Keeping Sanctions in Place

A worker stands at a bakery after the ousting of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, January 6, 2025. (Reuters)
A worker stands at a bakery after the ousting of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, January 6, 2025. (Reuters)

The US on Monday eased some restrictions on Syria's transitional government to allow the entry of humanitarian aid after opposition factions ousted Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad last month.

The US Treasury issued a general license, lasting six months, that authorizes certain transactions with the Syrian government, including some energy sales and incidental transactions.

The move does not lift sanctions on the nation that has been battered by more than a decade of war, but indicates a limited show of US support for the new transitional government.

The general license underscores America's commitment to ensuring its sanctions “do not impede activities to meet basic human needs, including the provision of public services or humanitarian assistance,” a Treasury Department statement reads.

Since Assad's ouster, representatives from the nation's new de facto authorities have said that the new Syria will be inclusive and open to the world.

The US has gradually lifted some penalties since Assad departed Syria for protection in Russia. The Biden administration in December decided to drop a $10 million bounty it had offered for the capture of Ahmed al-Sharaa, the leader of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group whose forces led the ouster of Assad last month.

The announcement followed a meeting in Damascus between al-Sharaa, who was once aligned with al-Qaeda, and the top US diplomat for the Middle East, Barbara Leaf, who led the first US diplomatic delegation into Syria since Assad’s ouster. The US and UN have long designated HTS as a terrorist organization.

HTS led a lightning insurgency that ousted Assad on Dec. 8 and ended his family’s decades-long rule. From 2011 until Assad’s downfall, Syria’s uprising and civil war killed an estimated 500,000 people.

Much of the world ended diplomatic relations with Assad because of his crackdown on protesters, and sanctioned him and his Russian and Iranian associates.

Syria’s infrastructure has been battered, with power cuts rampant in the country and some 90% of its population living in poverty. About half the population won’t know where its next meal will come from, as inflation surges.

The pressure to lift sanctions has mounted in recent years as aid agencies continue to cut programs due to donor fatigue and a massive 2023 earthquake that rocked Syria and Türkiye. The tremor killed over 59,000 people and destroyed critical infrastructure that couldn’t be fixed due to sanctions and overcompliance, despite the US announcing some humanitarian exemptions.