... providing military equipment to certain opposition groups in Syria referring to Donald Trump’s phone call with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. According to the Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, Trump had “given clear instructions” that the Kurds (Kurdish People's Protection Units) will “receive no more weapons.” The Pentagon reiterated the claim announcing “pending adjustments to the military support provided to the Kurdish partners.”
Evgeniia Drozhashchikh, Rethinking Russia expert ...
... events of 2014, when Islamic State intensified its advance and surrounded the (mainly Kurd-populated) city of Kobani in Northern Syria, were another source of irritation for Washington. It was some time before the Turkish authorities decided to help the Kurds, which also dealt a blow at the country’s image in the eyes of the international community. As a result, Washington strengthened its cooperation with the Kurds in fighting Islamic State. In addition, it is clear that the White House has rule out ...
The official referendum for Iraqi Kurdistan is soon. The referendum which is designed to sense the will of Iraqi Kurds about independence from Iraq and starting a Kurdish state among Iran, Syria, Iraq and Turkey. Theoretically, this might seem possible since Kurds already enjoy an autonomous rule in northern Iraq, they have their own president paramilitary forces ...
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In today’s reality of statehood crisis in the region, Russia continues to adhere to these principles, while making adjustments to its actions “on the ground”. It should be noted that Moscow does not have a clearly defined strategy regarding the Kurds. In light of Russia’s return to the Middle East and the increasing role that Kurdish political forces are playing in the region, Moscow has started to shape its “Kurdish policy”. In addition, over the last year, Russia’s energy companies ...
Longstanding relations between Moscow and the Kurds has provided Russia with a “Kurdish card”, that is, the ability to modulate its support to various Kurdish national ambitions throughout the Middle East, depending on what the Kremlin was seeking to obtain from Turkey, Syria, Iraq and ...
... supporting the coalition and leading the fight against Islamic State. Having refused to intervene directly in Syria, the countries that make up coalition focused for the most part on aerial bombardments, or on supplying weapons to and training the Syrian Kurds. It was on account of the Kurdish part of the Syrian Democratic Forces, a military association formed in October 2015 by followers of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, that Turkey opposed cooperation with them, fighting off their advances with ...
... are trying to find common ground to solve the Syrian crisis together. However, it remains to be seen if such policy leads to success due to very different policy choices so far. The key question is whether Moscow will stop its support of the Syrian Kurds in return for Ankara giving up its attempts to overthrow Bashar al-Assad administration. Declaration on unprecedented partnership in defense industry was one of the important points of the summit. The parties also agreed to form a joint military ...
... came not from the Islamic State, but from Kurdish separatists, fuelled by the Syrian crisis.
At the start of the Syrian crisis, Turkey apparently expecting the situation in that country to develop according to the Tunisian or Egyptian scenarios.
The Kurds had the backing of the global community, especially since they were fighting the Islamic State. People’s Protection Units (YPG) fought alongside soldiers from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party – considered to be a terrorist group in ...
... TAK as a response against the security operations undertaken by the Turkish army on the southeastern part of the country against the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). According to the TAK, recent counter-insurgency operations have reportedly killed 300 Kurds in the area of Cizre. Soon after the attack, Turkish government ordered its air forces to carry out several strikes on PKK’s military camps in Northern Iraq, acknowledging the de facto responsibility of the Kurdish rebels in the suicide bombing....
... of the city in August 2014, during an overwhelming assault launched by the jihadists who were eventually stopped in their expansion by US airstrikes, and the subsequent creation of the US-led coalition in September 2014.
The
seizure of Sinjar by the Kurds highlights the key-role played by the Peshmerga in fighting the jihadists in Northern Iraq. Significantly, the US planned and carried out this operation with the Kurds and not with the Iraqi army. Beyond military considerations related to the inefficiency ...
