A group of armed Kurdish fighters from the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) enter northern Iraq in the Heror area, northeast of Dahuk. Ceerwan Aziz / AP
A group of armed Kurdish fighters from the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) enter northern Iraq in the Heror area, northeast of Dahuk. Ceerwan Aziz / AP

Iraq struggles to expel Kurdish militia from the north



It won't be easy for Iraq to expel the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) from the country, the head of the Turkmen Association said on Thursday.

The comment follows weeks of heightened tensions between Turkey and PKK fighters based in Sinjar province and other areas of north Iraq.

"Iraq cannot rid itself of the PKK as they are deeply rooted in the north," Sundus Abbas told The National.

“I doubt that they (PKK) have left the Qandil mountain as they have a military base there. They are also seen in Kirkuk, Tuz Khurmato and Daqooq as well as other places,” Ms Abbas said.

Prime Minister Haider Al Abadi recently called on Kurdish insurgents in Iraq to disarm as Turkey raised the prospects of a military intervention in the country's north.

Last month Mr Al Abadi ordered security forces to take full control of Iraq's borders amid escalating tensions between Ankara and Turkey's Kurdish rebels, the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

“The PKK has long existed in Iraq, we welcome them as refugees, but we will not allow them to have arms," the premier said during a press conference in Baghdad.

Turkey has repeatedly threatened to attack PKK bases in northern Iraq in retaliation for the armed group's decades-old insurgency against Ankara.

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Read more:

Abadi says Iraq will prevent PKK attacks on Turkey

Iraq deploys troops to Sinjar following Turkey's push against PKK 

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In March President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he was ready to begin a military offensive in Sinjar, on the Syrian border, if Iraq didn't expel the Kurdish fighters.

"We will do what is necessary if Iraq fails in Sinjar," Mr Erdgoan said.

Parts of Sinjar became makeshift PKK bases in 2014 when the Kurdish militia launched a military operation to rescue members of the Yazidi community from an ISIS onslaught and stayed.

However, said Mr Al Abadi, "we asked them (PKK) to leave Sinjar and they did.”

But Sinjar's mayor Mahma Khalil denies these reports. “Despite officially announcing their withdrawal, PKK fighters remain in Sinjar,” Mr Khalil said.

Mr Khalil also denied that Turkish forces had moved towards Sinjar, despite Mr Erdogan's threats to intervene.

Mr Al Abadi also dismissed reports that any foreign forces had crossed into Iraq.

"Turkey has been shelling (PKK fighters), but, Turkish forces have not been deployed on the Iraqi border. We object to any strikes on Iraq, especially the Kurdistan region,” said Mr Al Abadi. adding that “Our security forces are doing their utmost to secure all Iraqi lands and currently conducting operations in desert areas.”

The PKK, considered a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the European Union and the United States, has for many years been based in Iraq's Qandil mountain range, near the border with Iran.

On Wednesday, Turkish state media reported that a solider was killed and three others were wounded in a PKK attack in Iraq's Kani Rash region.

Turkey has been fighting the PKK since 1984. More than 40,000 people have been killed in the fighting, which is largely focused in Turkey's southeast.

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A foster couple or family must:

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Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers

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World Cricket League Division 2

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UAE fixtures

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UAE: Thunder Snow/Saeed bin Suroor (trainer), North America/Satish Seemar, Drafted/Doug Watson, New Trails/Ahmad bin Harmash, Capezzano, Gronkowski, Axelrod, all trained by Salem bin Ghadayer

USA: Seeking The Soul/Dallas Stewart, Imperial Hunt/Luis Carvajal Jr, Audible/Todd Pletcher, Roy H/Peter Miller, Yoshida/William Mott, Promises Fulfilled/Dale Romans, Gunnevera/Antonio Sano, XY Jet/Jorge Navarro, Pavel/Doug O’Neill, Switzerland/Steve Asmussen.

Japan: Matera Sky/Hideyuki Mori, KT Brace/Haruki Sugiyama. Bahrain: Nine Below Zero/Fawzi Nass. Ireland: Tato Key/David Marnane. Hong Kong: Fight Hero/Me Tsui. South Korea: Dolkong/Simon Foster.

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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

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Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

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The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

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  1. Join parent networks
  2. Look beyond school fees
  3. Keep an open mind
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