On August 7th Turkey's Hurriyet published an article by Murat Yetkin headlined "Syria grows fragile, Iraq too."
"On Sunday, Aug. 5, Bashar al-Assad’s administration in Syria announced that they had cleared the capital Damascus of “terrorist elements” and had made considerable advances in Aleppo where they had deployed 20,000 additional troops," the article reads.
"On Monday, Aug. 6 there was an explosion at the state-run radio and TV building, which could have been an isolated terrorist action. But it was followed by another development which actually was big news. Syrian Prime Minister Riyad Hijab, who had assumed his office after the general elections in May, had left his post and fled from the country, possibly heading for Qatar."
"This was a second major blow to the al-Assad regime after a bomb attack last month killed four top security officials."
"Because Iraq at risk of falling apart. Masoud Barzani, the leader of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in the north of the country, which borders Turkey, has started to sign oil and gas deals with energy giants despite the objection of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in Baghdad, who refuses to approve a hydrocarbons law to regulate the sharing of oil and gas income. The energy giants have an interest in supplying more oil and gas that is not controlled or is less controlled by Russia and Iran to Western markets; Turkey provides an option under NATO protection for both Iraqi Kurdish and Azeri resources to be transferred further west. The presence of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in the KRG region and its armed campaign is, of course, a pain in the neck and a big obstacle to greater cooperation, but it is also a bargaining chip for Barzani. It is not an easy problem, but without the support of the Syrian regime and friends of the current Syrian regime, the PKK is likely to fall into a downward spiral," the article reads.
"If Syria falls apart, the division of Iraq might be imminent. If borders start to change in the region, no one can guess where they will stop," the author concludes.
