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Erbil The International Organization for Migration (IOM) and Toyota Iraq Corporation recently signed a partnership agreement to provide vocational training and improve employability for young people in Iraq.

Iraq is grappling with the cumulative effects of past conflicts on its development, which has left the country vulnerable to renewed conflict. The COVID-19 pandemic and falling oil prices further exacerbated the existing economic and political challenges in the country, pushing vulnerable populations into even more delicate situations. IOM supports the Government of Iraq in promoting stabilization in some of Iraq's most vulnerable communities, including through livelihoods opportunities.

Through this partnership with Toyota Iraq, 10 young people will receive training as part of efforts contributing to long-term economic recovery; individual and community resilience; and community stabilization in areas affected by the ISIL crisis.

IOM and Toyota Iraq will work together to expand the scope of potential work or training opportunities available to young jobseekers. Beginning in February 2021, youth from Najaf governorate will receive up to three months of training in three specialized programs: Automotive Technician Development Program; Auto Parts Development Program; and Customer Relations Development Program.

"IOM has long supported the Government of Iraq in finding solutions to economic recovery, including through individual and community-level livelihoods assistance programmes," said IOM Iraq Chief of Mission Gerard Waite. "The partnership with Toyota Iraq will further mutual efforts in support of vulnerable populations and seek to improve private sector capacity to accommodate local labour market demand."

The sessions will be led in Erbil Governorate, by Toyota Iraq staff. Through this program, the trainees will learn about the Toyota Way, Kaizen (continuous improvement) and the Toyota Production System; they will also gain technical knowledge and professional skills related to the auto industry and sales. They will learn transferrable skills for the automotive industry and be better equipped to access job opportunities that will lead to sustainable income. At the end of the sessions, some trainees may join a Toyota Authorized Service Centre or set up their own businesses as automotive technicians.

"This is part of our [support of the] Sustainable Development Goals and Corporate Social Responsibility --- to share our expertise and technology with Iraq youth, so that they can gain equal opportunities for employment," said Toyota Iraq President Sardar Al Bebany.

The partnership with Toyota Iraq is part of a larger project, "Leveraging the Security Development Nexus in Iraq: Support for Community Stabilization in Conflict Affected Communities", supported by the Government of Japan.

For more information please contact IOM Iraq's Public Information Unit, Tel: +964 751 402 2811, Email: iraqpublicinfo@iom.int

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IOM and Toyota Leverage Public-Private Partnership in Support of Vulnerable Populations in Iraq [EN/AR/KU] - Iraq - ReliefWeb

Baghdad, February 15, 2021: Within the framework of the joint cooperation between the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Iraqi Government for the achievement of sustainable agricultural development, and in an effort to support coordination and joint cooperation between relevant ministries and FAO, the organization provided video conference systems and a license for voice/video call program (Zoom) in addition to ICT tools to the Ministry of Agriculture. This step will enable continuity of coordination and virtual meetings as a way to overcome the restrictions imposed due to the spread of COVID-19 virus on social gatherings. The provision of these equipment is a paradigm shift in the way in which FAO and its partners are responding to the emerging COVID-19 pandemic, while at the same time provide modern equipment in a convenient and cost-effective manner.

From his side, Dr. Salah El Hajj Hassan, FAO Representative in Iraq, confirmed that the organization is working in partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture and local partners to understand and address the social and economic impacts of the pandemic and reduce its effects on the agricultural sector and farmers, in addition to finding ways to mitigate it in innovative ways through the use of modern technologies, in order to ensure FAO goals are met in ensuring food security and sustainable agricultural development.

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FAO provides the Ministry of Agriculture with information technology tools - Iraq - ReliefWeb

ISTANBUL -A Turkish operation in northern Iraq ended in a bloodbath after special forces failed to rescue 13 elite intelligence and police officers who had been kidnapped by Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militants.

Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar said that soldiers carrying out an operation against PKK militants in northern Iraq found the bodies of 13 Turks who had been kidnapped and executed in a cave.

Although Akar did not reveal the identity of the dead individuals, a high-ranking security source confirmed to Reuters that the identity of nine of the dead whose bodies were found in the cave had been ascertained. They include members of the Turkish intelligence, army and police.

Later, the governor of Malatya (eastern Turkey), where the bodies were taken, said that 10 of the victims, most of whom were police officers, had been kidnapped by the PKK in 2015 and 2016

Turkey had announced that Operation Eagle Claw - 2 was aimed at attacking PKK militants, but the intelligence and police officers' deaths showed that it was intended as a rescue operation.

The Turkish foreign minister declared in 2017 that Ankara was working to bring home citizens kidnapped by the PKK. Turkish media had previously reported thatKurdish militants had captured two Turkish intelligence officers in Iraq.

Turkey's confused reactions reflect the operation's failure. Senior officials, including presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin, first asserted that civilians had died, before it was revealed that those killed were Turkish intelligence and police elite forces, and that Operation Eagle Claw - 2 was designed to save them.

Statements by Turkey's Chief of General Staff Yasar Guler did not lessen the impact of the operation's failure. Guler argued that Operation Eagle Claw - 2 was based on "very good evidence" on where the Turkish prisoners were being held.

According to Guler, Turkish forces reached the cave in question on the third day of the operation. Turkish reporter Fehim Isik expressed doubt about the defence minister's account that prisoners were executed by the PKK.

Isik tweeted, "The prisoners were held for years by the PKK which did not kill them. Why did they kill them now?"

He added, "Hasn't Turkey in the past managed to get back members of its forces following negotiations with the Workers' Party? Why did it prefer that the prisoners die this time? Who benefits from their death?

Turkish-supported Islamist groups previously claimed that civilians had died, before news spread that the dead were Turkish intelligence and police officers.

Akar said that Turkey launched a military operation against the PKK in the Kara region in northern Iraq on February 10 to secure its borders and find two kidnapped nationals.

A statement published by a website linked to the PKK said that some of the prisoners it was holding, including members of Turkish intelligence, police and army, died when Turkey bombed the the area, and denied harming any prisoners.

The statement added, "Among the prisoners were two directors with the Turkish intelligence agency, and nine police officers and soldiers."

In a previously posted video, one of the captured soldiers questioned whether the Turkish army was really working to save the prisoners, saying "I do not know if anyone is working for our liberation."

The PKK, which is designated as a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the United States and the European Union, began an armed insurrection in the majority-Kurdish south-east region of Turkey in 1984. The conflict has claimed more than 40,000 lives.

Over the past two years, Turkey's campaign against the party has increasingly focused on northern Iraq, where the group maintains a stronghold in the Qandil Mountains on the border with Iran.

Turkish operations have fueled tensions with the Iraqi government, as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan asserts that his country intends to solve the issue of the PKK in northern Iraq if Baghdad is "unable to."

Iraqi intelligence sources previously revealed that the Turkish forces deployed to a number of locations in northern Iraq have expanded the scope of their reconnaissance missions in preparation for Operation Eagle Claw - 2.

The sources told The Arab Weekly that the Turkish air force carried out a large number of reconnaissance operations over northern Iraqi cities.

Erdogan had vowed that his country's forces would "suddenly launch an operation one night in northern Iraq."

Erdogan made his statement just days after Defence Minister Akar was dispatched to both Baghdad and Erbil to convey messages that were not completely friendly, according to well-informed political sources.

The sources said that the Turkish defence minister threatened Iraqi Kurdistan that Ankara would follow through with building a Turkish border crossing with Mosul that would deprive Iraqi Kurdistan of revenue if the region did not cooperate with it in the fight against the PKK.

Ankara's failure to rescue the intelligence and army personnel showed that Turkish pledges on this issue, including Erdogans threat that we will come one night," have turned into a disaster for the Turkish army.

Erdogan's phrase was repeated before Turkish military operations in the battles between Azerbaijan and Armenia. This time, the outcome was catastrophic for Ankara.

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Turkish operation to rescue intelligence operatives in Iraq ends in catastrophic failure | | AW - The Arab Weekly

OTTAWA -- Canada is expected to face pressure this week to reverse a recent drawdown of troops from Iraq as the NATO military alliance prepares to expand its presence in the country.

The alliance has persistent concerns about Islamic State extremists and Iranian-backed militias.

NATO secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg predicted this week that defence ministers from across the alliance would approve the deployment of more trainers and advisers to help Iraqi security forces fight the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan will be among those participating in the discussion during a two-day, closed-door meeting where he and counterparts from across the alliance will also discuss Afghanistan and the threats posed by China and Russia.

"I expect ministers will agree to launch an expanded mission with more allied personnel training and advising in more security institutions across the country," Stoltenberg said during a news conference on Monday.

"The mission will expand gradually in response to that situation. This follows requests from the Iraqi government, in close co-ordination with the global coalition. So that together, we can ensure that (ISIL) does not return."

The proposed expansion would see a dramatic increase in the number of troops assigned to NATO's current training mission -- and likely result in pressure on Canada to start sending troops back into Iraq after having withdrawn nearly 200 over the past year.

The current NATO mission was launched in 2018 and involved around 500 troops with the aim of building up Iraq's military so it could better combat extremist groups like ISIL. Canada contributed 200 of those initial troops and the mission was led by a Canadian general.

The Department of National Defence says only 17 Canadian troops are now working with the NATO mission, command of which was passed to Denmark in the fall.

The NATO mission isn't the only area where Canada has started to withdraw troops from the war against ISIL, with the military saying it had fewer than 400 troops in the region in January -- down from a high of more than 850 several years ago.

(In addition to the NATO training mission, Canada's war against ISIL has meant deploying special-forces troops to northern Iraq, transport aircraft and intelligence units to Kuwait and training teams to Jordan and Lebanon.)

Canadian military commanders have previously linked the drawdown to a decreased need for trainers as the Iraqi military has increasingly been able to conduct operations against ISIL and other extremists on its own.

A report published last week by the U.S. Defense Department's inspector general appears to back up that assessment, even though it added that Iraqi security forces continued to rely on coalition air power, surveillance and intelligence.

The report also described ISIL as an ongoing menace, with estimates of between 8,000 and 16,000 extremist fighters in Iraq and neighbouring Syria, and also warning that Iranian-backed militia "posed some of the greatest threats."

That threat was underscored on Monday when a military base in northern Iraq housing western soldiers -- including Canadian special forces -- was targeted by a rocket attack. One person was killed and several others were injured, including a U.S. service member.

Defence Department spokeswoman Jessica Lamirande said all Canadian military personnel at the base located next to the Irbil International Airport in Iraq's Kurdistan region were safe and accounted for.

One of the many Iranian-backed militias in Iraq claimed responsibility for the attack, the latest attributed to such groups, which many observers see as proxies in the broader, slow-burn conflict between the U.S. and Iran.

Sajjan declined in December to say whether Canada's mission against ISIL would even be extended beyond its current end-date of March 31, instead emphasizing in an interview with The Canadian Press that Canada would continue to be "a reliable partner."

However, the defence minister did say the government would base any decision on ensuring "the hard-fought gains" made in previous years are not lost -- particularly in Iraq.

Bessma Momani, a Middle East expert at the University of Waterloo, notes the Canadian military is heavily involved in several other missions, especially at home, where it has been helping with the COVID-19 pandemic.

But she believes Canada can and should contribute more troops to Iraq to ensure the country can continue to stand not only against ISIL, but also Iran and its militias.

"It's a small force, in my humble view," she said. "The ask is so low, and the potential upside of that is really high."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 17, 2021.

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Canada expected to face pressure to reverse withdrawal, send troops to Iraq - CTV News

RIZGARI, IRAQ - What stood out about a seminar recently held in this northern Iraqi village was that it was largely attended by men wearing noticeably large mustaches.

The facial hair is a feature distinguishing pious followers of the Kakai, a small religious group that has in recent years become a top target for the Islamic State (IS) terror group in Iraq.

The seminar, titled Kakais in the time of Corona, was meant to shed light on the culture and history of the group, as well as the challenges they face in the predominantly Muslim nation.

Followers of the religion say their unique mustache style, which they keep for both traditional and religious reasons, hasin recent years meant certain death for their fellow men as IS used it to identify them.

The group, which believes in reincarnation, is estimated to have as many as 75,000 followers in Iraq.

Al-Qaida and Islamic State terror have taken the lives of 450 members of our people since they came to the area, Kwekha Aziz, a Kakai community leader, told VOA.

You can see all our martyrs buried in the graveyard over there. They hate our religion. They hate it that we dont fast or we dont pray like them," he added.

Most Kakais live in more than a dozen villages dotting oil-rich Kirkuk province, a part of the northern disputed territories where experts say the Iraqi government is struggling to contain a rising IS threat. That area is contested between Baghdad and the autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in the north.

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Last year, a suspected IS attack left at least seven Kakai men dead near Iraqs northern border with Iran.

Kurdish officials say increased IS attacks and activities in the region have in recent days caused many Kakais to abandon their villages.

People in the area are panicking and many people in the predominantly Kakai villages have vacated their homes fearing [IS] attacks, Hiwar Rashid, a local Kurdish official in Kirkuk, said Tuesday in an interview with Iraqi Kurdish news site Bas News.

Last week, Sarbast Lazgin, deputy minister of the KRGs peshmerga forces in northern Iraq, told VOA the jihadists were already exploiting a security vacuum in the disputed territories, and he called for stronger cooperation between federal and regional security forces.

In 2015, the KRG created a military unit whose members were all Kakai followers to protect their own areas from IS. Local media reports say the unit has been severely weakened by partisan infighting between the dominant Kurdish parties.

Kakais also complain of lack of political representation in Iraq.

We dont have the size to be able to win parliamentary seats, and other political parties have not attempted to provide a quota for us, like they have done for other groups, activist Ziyad Kakai said.

While it might be easier for IS to recognize Kakai men, the religions female followers say they face their own unique challenges that go beyond terror threats in the conservative society they live in.

Kakai women have many grievances, Samira Kakai, a women's rights activist, told VOA.

They are not allowed [by their families] to go outside on their own. They are allowed to take pictures of themselves but cannot post them [online]. They are allowed to sing only in private, she added.

Kakais are also known as Yarsanis. Most of them identify as being ethnically Kurdish and speak both the Sorani and Gorani dialects of the Kurdish language.

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Local Officials Say Iraq's Kakais, Fearing IS, Are Fleeing Their Villages - Voice of America