Sykes–Picot Agreement

The International Court of Justice may not have issued the ruling that South Africa wanted, that Israel is perpetrating genocide against the Palestinians. But its instruction that Israel prevent any acts that could constitute genocide, and that it ensures that aid gets to the people of Gaza, is a victory for the countries in the anti-Israel and anti-West bloc.

Turkey issued a travel warning on Oct. 25 for Turks in Iraq as that country experience anti-government demonstrations.

Some historians give credit for the original idea of carving zones of influence out of the "sick man of Europe," the Ottoman Empire, to Sergey Sazanov, who was the Russian foreign minister before and during the First World War.

During his official visit to Ivory Coast, President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an said Turkey "will share our experience in urbanization with Ivory Coast." These words were reflected in pro-government newspaper headlines as "We will teach urbanism to Ivory Coast."

Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has suggested that the prospective independence of Iraq's Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) would "further complicate the picture" in a region destabilized by the "artificial borders of the Sykes-Picot agreement" of 1916.

The Russian desire to reach the ?warm waters? of the Mediterranean goes back to before the First World War. The copyright belongs to foreign minister Sergei Sazonov of Tsarist Russia. Sazonov was actually the third signatory of the infamous Sykes-Picot agreement of 1916, along with Britain and France, aiming to divide the collapsing Ottoman Empire into zones of control.

‘A Line in the Sand: Britain, France and the Struggle that Shaped the Middle East' by James Barr (Simon & Schuster, 454 pages, $25)

Turkey plans to build an organized industrial zone in the Palestinian city of Jenin in the West Bank, according to a new memorandum of understanding.

Turkish Science, Industry and Technology Minister Fikri Işık and Palestinian Deputy Prime Minister and National Economy Minister Mohammed Mostafa signed the deal late on Nov. 26.

After too much emphasis on the Sykes-Picot order as the root of problems in the region, it is now the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) that claims the legitimacy of fighting Sykes-Picot.

Iraq is a microcosm in the Middle East.  There is not a single ethnic, sectarian, religious, political or economic group in the Middle East that is not represented in Iraq.  This had been a typical example of the Middle East until modern times.