Autonomous regions

The Turkish Army (TSK) on Jan. 18 ordered its troops on the Syrian border in southern Turkey to increase security measures to the “highest level” ahead of a possible military operation into Afrin.

Turkey’s top security board will convene on Jan. 17 to discuss a potential military offensive into northern Syria’s Afrin region against the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), after the United States announced that it will help the group to establish a 30,000-strong security force.

Turkey’s currency has weakened both against the U.S. dollar and the euro, as geopolitical risks escalate over a possible military operation by Turkey in the Afrin region of northern Syria.

Female French jihadists arrested in Kurdish-held parts of Syria should face justice there so long as they can be guaranteed a fair trial, the French government said on Jan. 5.

Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in northern Iraq has rejected handing over the border management to the Iraqi federal administration, saying that the law instead provides for joint administration, as Iran re-opened its crossings with the semi-autonomous region.

Iraqi authorities took control of the main land crossing with Turkey, in the Kurdish area of Fish-Khabur, a customs official said on Tuesday, Reuters reported.

Turkey held a security meeting on Sept. 27 at the helm of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as tensions rise in the region over an Iraqi Kurdish referendum for independence.

Many in the Turkish media are happy to slam Israel and the U.S. over support for the Kurdish independence referendum, which would divide Iraq and have the potential to do the same to Turkey, but very little is said on Russia's stance.

Turkey and Iraq will launch a joint military exercise on the Turkish-Iraqi border on Sept. 26 following an independence referendum in northern Iraq, the Turkish military said late on Sept. 25.   
    
Turkey started its military manoeuvers in the southeastern district of Silopi on Sept. 18, a week ahead of the referendum on independence in northern Iraq.        

Thanks to Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) leader Masoud Barzani's move to hold a referendum on carving out an independent Kurdistan, the Middle East is once again a high-risk spot, competing with the ongoing crisis on the Korean Peninsula.