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Ankara to prevent 'artificial states' in Iraq, Syria Kurdistan24 ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan 24) - The Ankara government is not going to tolerate the formation of any new, 'artificial' states along its southern border with Iraq and Syria where Kurds in both countries have in recent years made large political ... A referendum on Kurdish independence from Iraq carries grave risksThe Economist No Time for Kurdish Independence in IraqThe American Conservative Kurdish leader: Poll to achieve 'separation from Iraq'Middle East Monitor Sputnik International -Asharq Al-awsat English all 70 news articles »

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Ankara to prevent 'artificial states' in Iraq, Syria - Kurdistan24

Iraq is in the grip of a heatwave of such severity that people are being sent home from work for their own safety.

The Gulf News reports that civil servants were told to take the day off Thursday as temperatures hit 122F (50C). The cities of Basra and Mosul experienced similar conditions, Gulf News said.

Demand for electricity has soared as people keep air-conditioners running to cope with the heat, but the state energy company is unable to cope and blackouts have added to the misery.

"The generator in my neighborhood that provides electricity for about 300 houses has caught fire from the heat," one resident of Baghdad told the Guardian . He added: "Weve never witnessed such a summer before.

Another resident told the paper that many people were experiencing headaches and that children were being sent to swimming pools for the entire day to protect them from the scorching temperatures.

The Gulf News reports that temperatures are forecast to rise next week to 124F (51C). It said that public showers and water cooling fans had been set up in some areas, but that Iraqis who could afford it were fleeing the country to cooler spots in the region.

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Iraq Is in the Grip of a Ferocious Heatwave and It's Forecast to Get Worse - TIME

BAGHDAD, IraqIraqi Sunni politician and leader of the Ummah Party Mithal al-Alusi says that Iraq has failed its people and that the Kurds are justified in their quest for separation and the establishment of a state of their own. This is a cardboard state, says al-Alusi in an interview with al-Iraqiya state television. The Kurds have the right to say: I dont want to be part of such a failed state. Al-Alusi, who describes himself as a secular politician from Anbar, cites the interference of regional countries as proof of Iraqs failure. Is Qasem Soleimani entering Iraq on a visa? Does he have residency permit? he asks. Iranian intelligence working as advisors is this sovereignty? Saudi money piling up with the Sunnis, is this Iraqi sovereignty and an intact state? Soleimani is the commander of Irans Quds Force who is said to have been hired by the Iraqi government as an advisor to the defense ministry. Al-Alusi who has been elected twice to the parliament and is a proponent of good relations with the West, including Israel, believes that Iraq has violated its own constitution which has given the Kurds a reason to seek a path of separation. We all voted for and agreed on this constitution that stipulates the unity of Iraq, but where has it got now and what democracy have we Iraqis got? he says. He argues that you cannot keep a nation together by force. A referendum is not against the nation of Iraq, and the nation you are talking about was created by sword and stick by Saddam Hussein, he tells the Iraqi news channel. If thats the nation you want then Im neither part of it nor represent it. Al-Alusi says that Iraqi politics, especially the structure of the government does not reflect the countrys diversity. Kurds, Yezidis, Christians, Sunnis and even some Shias cannot feel that this sectarian government represents them, he retorts. Bring me ten Iraqis who would say this has been working system. Ten ordinary people not politicians. When you say that the PM must be a Shiite I as a secular man wont accept that. When the speaker of the house must be a Sunni, I wont accept, he goes on to say. Why not a Yezidi or a Christian? Al-Alusi refers to a time when Iraqi politicians were seeking to change the former Iraqi regime from inside Kurdistan. We all Iraqi politicians used to fight on Kurdish soil under one slogan: democracy for Iraq and freedom for Kurds, he says. Have we given the Kurds any of their rights? He concludes that not only the Kurds, but all Iraqis have the right to choose their own path as he warns that that might be the case given todays reality. If the Kurds chose this path, are we going to fight them with an army? he says. With this situation there is going to be a hundred states.

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Sunni leader: You can't rule Iraq by sword, Kurdish separation justified - Rudaw

BERLIN Germanys Chancellor Angela Merkel wants to cooperate more closely with Libya to stem the influx of migrants from North Africa to Europe via perilous Mediterranean crossings.

The process is in its infancy, but its supposed to develop like [the refugee deal with] Turkey once did, the chancellor told journalists Friday following talks with senior officials from the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR).

To achieve this, Merkel said, its crucial to strengthen Libyas government and improve conditions in detention centers across the country.

Dodging a question on whether she supported a proposal by French President Emmanuel Macron to set up hotspots to handle asylum requests from start to finish in Libya, Merkel said efforts to improve the situation should not fail over money, promising the organizations up to50 million this year for new operations on the ground in Libya.

Fridays working lunch, set up at Merkels request, took place as the Italian government attributed a sharp drop in the number of refugees arriving at its southern shores to closer operation with war-torn Libya.

During the first 10 days of August, the number of migrants making the crossing to Italy fell by 76 percent compared to the same period last year; last month, the number of arrivals had already halved compared to 2016. Interior Minister Marco Minniti told POLITICOon Thursday this was a direct result of Italys attempts to boost the Libyan navy and coast guards ability to deal with vessels carrying migrants.

However, talk of a potential turning point in the migration crisis along the Central Mediterranean route, which has become the main entry point for undocumented migrants to Europe, is premature, the IOMs regional director for the EU, Norway and Switzerland cautioned ahead of the meeting with Merkel.

These sort of comparisons need to be done over a longer period of time, Eugenio Ambrosi told POLITICO in an interview at the IOMs Berlin office.Its enough to have two weeks of bad weather more than last year, and you have a drop [in numbers.]

Ambrosi acknowledged that the Italian measures could have had an impact but stressed that other factors such as a significant reduction of the number of people entering Libya from sub-Saharan Africa, as well as well as the slow stabilization of the political situation in parts of Libya, were equally decisive.

Whats more, most migrants picked up by Libyan ships are brought back to detention centers where conditions are not acceptable, he added.So you have taken them out of a nasty situation at sea, but you are putting them in an equally nasty or at times worse situation on land.

Asked about Macrons suggestion of hotspots in Libya, Ambrosi said that although the idea seemed excellent on paper, there currently were some insurmountable problems such as the lack of a legal framework for such centers, and that only a few European countries are willing to take in refugees whose application for asylum is approved.

We [first] need to have many more assurances from EU member states that those that would be recognized as refugees in these offshore processing centers are then actually accepted for resettlement, he said. And the track record, so far, of Europe as a whole, of course with exceptions is not necessarily encouraging.

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Merkel identifies Libya as key to migration crisis - POLITICO.eu

The European migrant crisis has had its share of striking images. The death of three-year old Syrian boy Alan Kurdi, drowned on a Turkish beach, brought world-wide attention to the plight of Syrian refugees. The demolition of the Calais jungle.Streams of thousands moving through the Balkansor packed by the hundreds into tiny boats. But few images from the crisis have been quite as striking by contrast as when a full boat of migrants on Wednesday landed at a tourist beach in Cadiz, Spain:

Weve written at length and for many years about the challenges that uncontrolled migration poses to the European project, all of which are once again brought to mind here. But perhaps the most troubling new development in the crisis is where these migrants are setting off from, as The Telegraph reports:

Spain could surpass Greece this year as a gateway formigrantsentering Europe by sea, international monitors warned on Thursday, as the number of arrivals swells to treble that of 2016.

Amid a crackdown on migration through Libya, more than 8,000 people have turned to the so-called Western Mediterranean Route from Morocco into Spain this year, compared to 2,500 during the same period in 2016.

The increase in migration through Morocco means that the Italians progress in controlling the migration flows from Libya might simply be diverting them westwards. After a massive surge in June that saw 12,000 migrants arrive in 48 hours, the Italian government was finally compelled to act. Italys navy is now patrolling the Libyan coast. In an interview with Politico, the Italian interior minister laid out Italys plan, which is refreshingly sensible:

The Italian minister has three requests to Europe. The first: to allocate to Africa and especially Libya, which currently accounts for 97 percent of departures [to Italy] the same amount of effort and resources that it devoted last year to stemming migration flows through the Balkans. [.]

Minnitis second request is for help tackling the problem of migrant reception centers in Libya, where he envisages increased cooperation between the EU and the United Nations. Last week,a reportdrafted by EU officials detailed severe shortcomings in sanitary conditions in the refugee centers in Libya. [.]

His final request and perhaps the biggest one is for Europe to make a five-year commitment to invest in the mayors of the 14 main Libyan cities where migrant smuggling takes place. The best way to stabilize the country, the minister said, is to create viable economic alternatives to the business of human trafficking, which currently constitutes the only functioning enterprises in Libya.

The Italian plan is serious in ways that Brussels efforts are not. Among the EUs only notable accomplishments in recent months: limiting exports of rubber boats to Libya. You cant make this stuff up.

The Italians have learned a hard lesson that Brussels cannot solve their migrant problems and have taken action. The Spanish, as yet, have not. If halting migration flows from war-torn Libya simply diverts those flows elsewhere, then Europe is in for a very long crisis indeed.

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Migrants, Blocked in Libya, Promptly Shift to Morocco - The American Interest