Iraq, Turkey
Hakan Fidan makes his moves on Iraq's complex political chessboard

The Intelligence Gazette
Moldovan security council, Russia's data border crack down, Xi Jinping and Moscow, Ankara struggling with PKK

Appointments, reforms and the issues at stake: every Monday, Intelligence Online serves up snippets big and small from the global intelligence community. This week, we bring news from Ankara, Moscow, Chisinau and Beijing.

MoldovaPresidential cabinet musical chairs.

RussiaRoskomnadzor strengthens border controls.

China/RussiaBeijing gets involved in peace efforts in Europe.

Turkey/IraqAnkara searches for equipment to fight PKK in northern Iraq.

Iraq
Groupe ADP picks ex-Baghdad mayor Habbobi to handle its only project in Iraq

Though it lost out on a contract in Mosul, the French airports operator still has a project on the go in the south of Iraq, in Kerbala. It has picked local bigwig Manhal Al Habbobi to see it through.

Palestine, Syria
Moscow and Tehran behind Syria-Hamas reconciliation

Damascus and Hamas officially buried the hatchet on 16 September, after a decade of dispute, in a deal brokered by Russia and Iran that gives the Palestinian faction the lead over Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah.

France, Iraq
Franco-Iraqi torchbearer Groupe ADP left in limbo in Mosul

France's Groupe ADP, which had been due to rehabilitate Mosul International Airport, has been left at a loss following Baghdad's decision to award the contract to Turkish companies instead. With little in the way of explanation from the Iraqi authorities, it has opted to withdraw from the project and its possible follow-up phases.

Syria, Turkey
Turkish and Syrian spy chiefs Hakan Fidan and Ali Mamlouk talk again at Russia's initiative

Keen to play the role of mediator between Turkey and Syria, Russia sponsored a new meeting between the spy chiefs of the two countries, which have been at daggers drawn since 2011. The results were not convincing but the meeting at least allowed Ankara and Damascus to set out their demands.

Iraq, United States
Baghdad hires Vinson&Elkins to defend oil interests in Washington

Texas-based Vinson & Elkins, an energy sector international arbitration specialist, is helping the Central Iraqi state get its position across to the State Department while awaiting a ruling in its oil arbitration case against Turkey.

Turkey
Ankara's spymasters squabble over best strategy against PKK

Still engaged in military operations against the PKK in northern Iraq, Turkey has been suffering heavy losses while failing to eradicate the perceived Kurdish threat. It is now rethinking its strategy while trying to ensure the continued support of the Kurdish KDP, its ally on the ground.