One attack in southeastern Turkey is in a Kurdish area and blame naturally leans toward the PKK. Turkey is bombing PKK positions in Kurdistan and Syria; the PKK has responded. The second attack was in Istanbul and it targeted an American consulate. A leftist organization known as the Revolutionary People’s Liberation Army-Front (DHKP-C) has taken credit.
Kurds selling oil independent from Baghdad government
The Kurds of northern Iraq are exporting their oil through Turkey and no longer sharing the revenue with the rest of Iraq, as required by law. The Kurds are seeking to become a completely independent country, rather than just an autonomous region. Foreign countries, however may respect the Baghdad government’s claims that the Kurdish exports are illegal.
Look for Sunni Iraqis to seek their own autonomy/independence.
Signs of fight in US-trained Syrian rebels
The Pentagon is claiming a recent success by the Syrian units it trained. The skirmish was rather insignificant.
He was a CIA analyst who spoke out against the Bush administration’s cherry picking of intelligence related to Iraq’s nuclear program.