Second, Iran and its allies—Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon—form a pro-Iranian bloc, known as the “axis of resistance,” or the “Shi’a Crescent” as the King of Jordan identified it in 2004.
Pushing back against Turkish influence in Syria, as well as throughout the greater Arab/Islamic world from Somalia to Iraq and Qatar to Libya, requires the unity of powerful Arab states, naturally making Saudi Arabia a key player in this regard from Abu Dhabi’s standpoint.
This pillar of the UAE’s foreign policy became increasingly important following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, which two Emirati hijackers carried out with 17 others mainly from Saudi Arabia, as well as the Islamic State’s meteoric rise to power in Iraq and Syria in 2014.
Among this list was the 1948 Nakba, the events of 1967, which saw Israel occupy more Arab lands, the invasion of Iraq, the Arab Spring, and the impact of technological evolution in the field of telecommunications, which he believed “led among other things to the collapse of fear and silence” in the region.
In the qualifiers, Qatar eliminated Iraq and secured another victory against South Korea in the quarterfinals before trashing the UAE in the semi-final.
Iraq is a country still having an embassy in Syria, and its foreign minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari visited Damasucs in October and called for Syria to return to the Arab League.
Later, as of the last quarter of 2016, drones were used intensely for assaults by Daesh, both against security forces in Operation Mosul in Iraq, and against the PKK/YPG terrorist organization, which were included in Operation Raqqa in Syria, and against the Syrian regime forces.
The emergence of Daesh and other similar groups in Syria, Iraq, Libya, and Yemen, and their engagement in violent activities compelled the people to change their approach and attitude towards these groups.
In April 1991, following the First Gulf War in Iraq and the Kurdish uprisings quelled by Sadam Hussein through bloodshed, France took the initiative for an establishment of an independent Kurdish region against the Baghdad administration under the guarantee of the West with the formation of Iraqi no-fly zones in reference to the UN Security Council Resolution 688.
More importantly, Turkey’s unexpected yet comprehensive air strike against PKK positions in Northern Iraq was a strong sign that Turkey would extend same military campaigns against YPG positions in Syria.
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While Turkey is waiting for the ‘moment’ to start its military operation against the YPG controlled areas in Northeast Syria, Sputnik News reported that the one of the commanders of the Syrian Peshmerga under the autonomous Kurdistan administration in north of Iraq - Badal Bandi - stated that their forces will move to Syria soon.