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Iraq, Türkiye Near Agreement on ‘Security Corridor’... Plus Water, Energy Deal

Türkiye's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan arrives to meet with Iraq's Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein, in Baghdad, Iraq, March 14, 2024. REUTERS/Ahmed Saad
Türkiye's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan arrives to meet with Iraq's Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein, in Baghdad, Iraq, March 14, 2024. REUTERS/Ahmed Saad
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Iraq, Türkiye Near Agreement on ‘Security Corridor’... Plus Water, Energy Deal

Türkiye's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan arrives to meet with Iraq's Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein, in Baghdad, Iraq, March 14, 2024. REUTERS/Ahmed Saad
Türkiye's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan arrives to meet with Iraq's Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein, in Baghdad, Iraq, March 14, 2024. REUTERS/Ahmed Saad

A high-ranking Turkish delegation held talks in Baghdad on Thursday to plan a major military operation in northern Iraq against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), according to Iraqi sources.

Turkish officials also discussed creating a “buffer zone” within Iraq’s borders.

Iraqi sources also revealed that political support could be provided for the operation in exchange for deals on water and energy resources.

Turkish sources suggested that the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) in Iraq might be involved in the operation.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Defense Minister Yasar Guler and intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin attended the talks with their Iraqi counterparts.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein hosted Fidan for discussions on countering terrorism.

According to a press release, they planned “political consultations.” The Iraqi embassy in Ankara stated that the Turkish delegation attended a security meeting focused on “counterterrorism cooperation.”

A Turkish Defense Ministry official mentioned discussions about “operations against the banned PKK in Iraq,” reported Reuters.

Ankara has stepped up cross-border actions against the PKK in northern Iraq, warning against further incursions.

The conflict was long fought mainly in rural areas of southeastern Türkiye but is now more focused on the mountains of northern Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, where PKK fighters are based.

Iraq has previously protested these operations as violations of its sovereignty, but Ankara argues they are necessary for border protection.

Discussions are underway for turning areas with Turkish military bases in the Iraqi Kurdistan region into a “security corridor” covering PKK-active regions, including the Qandil Mountains, Iraqi sources revealed.

Officials at the Iraqi Prime Minister’s office declined to comment on the matter.

However, a leader in the “Coordination Framework” alliance said Baghdad and Ankara share common concerns about PKK risks, fearing its activity could impede development efforts.

Last week, Türkiye’s Defense Minister mentioned plans to establish a security belt in Iraq to tackle the PKK.

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Arab World

ISIS Lashes Out at Syria's Sharaa, Announces ‘New Phase of Operations’

A Syrian government soldier outside Al-Aqtan prison in Raqqa, which holds ISIS detainees (AFP)
A Syrian government soldier outside Al-Aqtan prison in Raqqa, which holds ISIS detainees (AFP)
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ISIS Lashes Out at Syria's Sharaa, Announces ‘New Phase of Operations’

A Syrian government soldier outside Al-Aqtan prison in Raqqa, which holds ISIS detainees (AFP)
A Syrian government soldier outside Al-Aqtan prison in Raqqa, which holds ISIS detainees (AFP)

Syria’s Defense Ministry said on Sunday that a Syrian army soldier and a ‌civilian were killed a day earlier by “unknown assailants” in the northern city of Raqqa.

ISIS claimed ‌responsibility for two attacks targeting Syrian army personnel in northern and eastern Syria.

The militant group said on its Dabiq news agency that it had targeted “an individual of the apostate Syrian regime” in the city of Mayadin in Deir Ezzor province using a pistol, and attacked two other personnel with machine guns in Raqqa.

The attacks came after ISIS blasted Syria’s interim president, Ahmad al-Sharaa, calling him a “puppet without a soul” controlled by Western countries, adding that his fate eventually will be similar to that of ousted leader Bashar Assad.

In an audio message released late Saturday by the group’s spokesman, who identifies himself as Abu Huzaifa al-Ansari, he called on ISIS followers around the world to attack Jewish and Western targets as they have in past years.

The ‌group also said it had begun a “new phase of operations” in Syria.

Al-Ansari sent greetings to ISIS militants from the group’s leader Abu Hafs al-Hashemi al-Qurayshi who was named as the head of the group three years ago.

The audio is the first to be released by the group in months and comes after ISIS was blamed for attacks that left dozens dead or wounded in recent months in Syria, Iraq, Pakistan and other parts of the world.

The latest incidents come two days after ISIS claimed responsibility for another attack in Deir Ezzor that killed a member of the Interior Ministry’s internal security forces and wounded another.

In December, the group was blamed for an attack in central Syria that left three Americans dead and triggered intense US airstrikes on the extremists’ suspected hideouts in the country.

Arab World

Hamas Official Says Group in Final Stage of Choosing New Chief

Tents are erected to house displaced Palestinian families in the al-Zahara neighborhood, north of the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central of Gaza Strip on February 21, 2026. (Photo by Eyad Baba / AFP)
Tents are erected to house displaced Palestinian families in the al-Zahara neighborhood, north of the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central of Gaza Strip on February 21, 2026. (Photo by Eyad Baba / AFP)
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Hamas Official Says Group in Final Stage of Choosing New Chief

Tents are erected to house displaced Palestinian families in the al-Zahara neighborhood, north of the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central of Gaza Strip on February 21, 2026. (Photo by Eyad Baba / AFP)
Tents are erected to house displaced Palestinian families in the al-Zahara neighborhood, north of the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central of Gaza Strip on February 21, 2026. (Photo by Eyad Baba / AFP)

A senior Hamas official told AFP on Sunday that the Palestinian movement was in the final phase of selecting a new leader, with two prominent figures competing for the position.

Hamas recently completed the formation of a new Shura Council of more than 80 members, a consultative body largely composed of religious scholars, as well as a new 18-member political bureau, the official said.

Since the war in Gaza began after Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, Israeli forces have killed several Hamas leaders, including two former chiefs.

"The movement has completed its internal elections in the three regions and has reached the final stage of selecting the head of the political bureau," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak publicly.

According to AFP, he said the race for the group's leadership was now between Khaled Meshaal and Khalil al-Hayya.

A second Hamas source confirmed the development, while a third source said the new leader would lead the movement only "for one year.”

Despite a US-brokered ceasefire that entered its second phase last month, violence has continued in Gaza, with Israel and Hamas blaming each other for violating the agreement.

Members of the council are elected every four years by representatives from Hamas's three branches: the Gaza Strip, the occupied West Bank and the movement's external leadership.

Hamas prisoners in Israeli jails are also eligible to vote.

The council subsequently elects the political bureau, which in turn selects the head of the movement.

Arab World

Berri to Asharq Al-Awsat: Parliamentary Elections Will Be Held on Time 

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri. (Lebanese parliament)
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri. (Lebanese parliament)
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Berri to Asharq Al-Awsat: Parliamentary Elections Will Be Held on Time 

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri. (Lebanese parliament)
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri. (Lebanese parliament)

Lebanon continues to come under pressure to postpone the parliamentary elections in May with international powers believing that priority in the country lies in disarming Hezbollah and granting Prime Minister Nawaf Salam’s government more time to approve financial, economic and administrative reforms.

Israel also continues to apply pressure on Lebanon as it maintains its attacks against Hezbollah, targeting its members and fighters across the country and delivering a message that it has no choice but to disarm.

Despite the pressure, parliament Speaker Nabih Berri stressed that the elections will be held on time.

In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, he said he had conveyed this position to the ambassadors of the quintet committee countries, who want to delay the polls.

“I do not support the postponement or the extension of parliament’s term,” he added.

“I was the first to announce my nomination,” he noted, explaining that he did so to block claims that he wanted to delay the elections and extend the term of parliament.

“This is a message to whom it may concern inside Lebanon and beyond: I am committed to seeing the elections through to the end,” Berri declared, saying he had advised several members of his Amal movement to submit their candidacies.

Moreover, the speaker said the postponement “was not justified.”

The elections will be held on time and according to the current electoral law, he vowed. “Those who want to postpone them should assume responsibility for their position and not blame it on others.”

Commenting on the latest Israeli strikes on Lebanon that targeted the central and northern Bekaa in the east, he described them as a “new war aimed at pressuring the country to surrender to Tel Aviv’s conditions.”

A prominent military source told Asharq Al-Awsat that the raids sought to deliver a message to Hezbollah members and fighters that they no longer had a safe place to hide.

Israel can pursue them and assassinate them anywhere, it added.

The success of these attacks means that the Iran-backed party has been breached, something that has been acknowledged by several of its MPs, who have vowed to investigate the issue, it said.