Category: Article
Why is Syrian military deploying in Kurdish-held areas?
The Syrian government seeks to strengthen its military presence in Ain Issa and the area overlooking the M4 international highway, which are under control of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces. ALEPPO, Syria — The Syrian government, with the support of Russia, is trying to boost its military presence in the areas of northeastern Syria controlled […]
The PKK and the PYD: Comrades in Arms, Rivals in Politics?
Although the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the Democratic Union Party (PYD) are ideologically affiliated, they remain organizationally distinct. Even though it does not pose a direct security threat to Turkey, the PYD’s increasing consolidation of power in northern Syria arguably poses a challenge not only to Ankara but also to the PKK. BACKGROUND: During […]
The Takeaway: US-Turkey strains worsening over Syrian Kurds amid fresh Erdogan complaints
Turkish president questions US-Turkey NATO alliance, while Iran expands influence in eastern Syria; Erdogan (again) accuses US of acting with terrorists in Syria What kind of alliance is this? Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has, for the second time this month, accused the United States of siding with terrorists in Syria. Reacting to a tweet […]
How the NY Times whitewashed Turkey’s human rights record in Syria
By Syrians for Truth and Justice The New York Times recently published an article about Turkey’s role protecting civilians in the areas it controls in Syria’s Afrin region. For many Americans, this will be the most recent, if not the only, news they hear about Afrin. However, the article offers an unbalanced portrait of the […]
How Turkey’s government abuses – and uses – Kurdish groups
David Lepeska Despite near-constant change, the resurrection of Turkey’s primary political battles is never far away. A dozen years ago this month, long-frosty relations between the Turkish government and the country’s Kurdish nationalist movement enjoyed an early spring thaw. The pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP) won the majority of seats in local elections in the […]
Will Iran support the PKK? Turkish expansion in Syria, Iraq and Azerbaijan will not go unanswered.
BY Hedwig Kuijpers As springtime is near, Turkey is preparing for its next large-scale offensive against its archenemy; the Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK). It already started with its incessant shelling of Ayn-Issa in North-Syria, threatened to invade Sinjar, and the execution of an operation centering around the Gare mountain in Duhok district, Iraqi Kurdistan. But […]
Conscription by SDF agonizing Raqqa residents
Raqqa—Hussam al-Omar It has been two years since Jaber, who works in a car repair shop, was stuck in Raqqa city, unable to leave it at all. He fears the conscription checkpoints spreading across his city. Jaber Muhammad, 28 years old and resident of the al-Der’iyeh neighborhood on the western outskirts of Raqqa city, […]
The children of Şino (Oshnaviyeh); part 1
The Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI) is an armed leftist ethnic party of Kurds in Iran, exiled in northern Iraq. The group calls for self-determination of Kurdish people and has been described as seeking separatism. Since 1979, KDPI has waged a persistent guerrilla war against the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran. This […]
Former SDF-commander Talal Selo digs up some secrets
In a vast area that extends over more than three Syrian governorates, which are the largest and richest in natural resources, and dubbed Syria’s food basket, as it is rich in wheat and other crops, a group of personalities – non-Syrian as a whole – control the capabilities of this region, by orders that come […]
Yazidi Suicide Wave
A veritable suicide wave is plaguing the Yazidi community in northern Iraq. Since the beginning of 2012, 12 young people committed suicide. The causes are to be found in the lack of proper psychosocial help, unemployment, hopelessness, and half a decade living in tents. The political wrangling between various parties for control of Sinjar means […]