For all of the latest Kurdish news, see these sources:
ANF English: https://anfenglishmobile.com/
Hawar News: https://www.hawarnews.com/en/
Rojava Information Center: https://rojavainformationcenter.com
Women Defend Rojava: http://womendefendrojava.net/en/
Rojhelat: http://rojhelat.info/en/
Rojava Centre for Strategic Studies
Komun Academy:
NEWS
- Former Turk Economy Czar Forms Party to Challenge Erdogan
- Violence at Turkey-Greece border like ‘a horror movie’: Migrants
- Assad’s ‘dangerous’ statement on Kurds could be message to Turkey: Official
- US-led Coalition rejects Assad’s charge of stealing Syria’s oil
- Report: Iran Revolutionary Guard commander killed in Syria
- Turkey continues crackdown on journalists, intellectuals
- Iran plotted to change demographics in Iraq
- Northeast Syrian parties condemn Assad’s Kurdish policies
- Refugees told ‘Europe is closed’ as tensions rise at Greece-Turkey border
- Assad: Kurdish issue in Syria is ‘illusive and a lie’
- Activists hit out as anti-war slogans banned in Istanbul
- Women’s TUC vows to raise voices of women resisting brutality in Turkey
- Syrian Kurds worry IS camp could riot as Turkey weaponizes water
- Putin and Erdogan Reach Accord to Halt Fighting in Syria
- KNK Rojava branch opens office in Qamishlo
- Kurdish Community of Armenia Rallies and Demands Turkey Allow Lawyers to Visit
- Turkey claims migrant killed in Greek border clash
- Kurdish fighter’s family deported to Syria as EU pledges millions in migrant crack-down
- Turkey says millions of migrants may head to EU
- Report: War Crimes Committed by Almost All Sides in Syria
- Kurdish refugee and journalist Behrouz Boochani’s book ‘No Friend but the Mountains’ to be made into a film
- Tensions escalate after Russian journalists held in Turkey
- Turkey launches Operation Spring Shield against Syrian forces
- Syria war: Turkey says thousands of migrants have crossed to EU
- Turkey welcomes British move to define TAK and HPG as PKK ‘aliases’
- Öcalan: “Everything Depends on your Struggle”
- Greece and Bulgaria crack down on Turkish borders as refugees arrive
- Officials to close Syria-Kurdistan Region border to block coronavirus
- Syria war: Alarm after 33 Turkish soldiers killed in attack in Idlib
- On the Fires on İmralı Island
- Ancient Kurdish town in Turkey soon to be submerged
- Airstrike Hits Turkish Forces in Syria, Raising Fears of Escalation
- Turkey vows to drive Syrian forces back from Idlib
- Pentagon dismisses Syria re-engagement amid Idlib showdown
- Briefing of the 2020 International Peace Delegation to İmralı
- Turkey-backed forces accused of cutting water to Syrian Kurdish-run region
- Trying Erdogan for war crimes
- Syrian Kurdish PYD party elects new co-chairs
- HDP Congress opens in Ankara
- Iraqi Kurds rally against ‘corruption’ of ruling elite
- Turkey’s pro-Kurdish HDP elects new leadership at 4th party congress
- Over 1,000 Syrian Kurdish refugees arrive in Kurdistan in one month
- PYD to hold 8th Ordinary Congress
- Erdoğan to meet with Putin, Merkel and Macron to discuss Syria situation
- Earthquake in Turkey-Iran border region kills nine, injures more than 100
- UN warns of ‘bloodbath’ as Syria fighting escalates
- Turkey’s HDP calls for international solidarity as congress opens
- Kurds still grapple with their native tongue on International Mother Language Day
- Thousands of Foreign ISIS Fighters in Syria Will Go on Trial Starting in March
- Fears raised over safety of Kurdish media-freedom campaigner after police detain him
- Syria Kurds of ENKS raise fears of ‘demographic change’ with Turkish FM
- GOP lawmaker makes unannounced trip to northeastern Syria
- Sociology of Freedom Soon Available in English
- Building Free Life Now Available in English
- Forcing Russian vehicle off Syrian road, US military sends a strong message
- Erdogan threatens ‘imminent’ Turkish operation in Syria
- Syrian army strengthens Aleppo grip before Russia-Turkey talks
- KODAR calls on people to boycott Iranian elections
- International Peace Delegation: We are not seeing any progress in Mr Öcalan’s situation and this gives great cause to concern
- Syria war: ‘One killed’ as US troops clash with government loyalists near Qamishli
- Syrian Kurds to begin trials for foreign ISIS fighters next month
- Clash with Syrian regime forces kills five Turkish troops in Idlib
OPINION, COMMENTARY, ANALYSIS
- Why Northeast Syria matters
- In Northeast Syria, US and Russia in Fragile Coexistence
- Remembering Hevrîn Xelef
- How Far Can Russia-Turkey Deal Over Syria’s Idlib Go?
- Fears rise for Syria’s lost generation
- It turns out the world could have saved Syria all along
- International Women’s Day in Iran: Kurdish activists challenge patriarchy
- Libyan front looks bleak for Erdogan
- NATO Is in Denial About the Risk of War Between Turkey and Russia
- Syria Is Turkey’s Problem, Not America’s
- Fragile Cease-Fire in Syria Offers Few Hopes for Displaced Civilians
- An army of feminists
- Where Standing Up for Kurdish Rights Is a Crime
- Putin saves Erdogan from himself
- Syria Debacles Epitomize Perpetual Perfidy of U.S. Foreign Policy
- Turkey is using Idlib to create permanent presence in Syria: expert
- Pompeo’s Turkish Gambit Fails in Syria
- Syrian Kurds worry IS camp could riot as Turkey weaponizes water
- Your F-35 Is In Another Castle: Why Turkey Might Buy Russia’s Su-35 Fighter
- How Russia’s Putin became the go-to man on Syria
- Battle for Idlib: Turkey’s drones and a new way of war
- Erdogan’s imperial play comes undone
- The US shouldn’t support Turkey’s reckless moves in Syria
- What’s behind Ankara’s decision to lift visit ban on jailed PKK leader?
- Turkey, EU and the imperilled refugee deal
- Turkey’s Evolving Approach to its Neighborhood: The Case of Georgia & Ukraine
- Syrian Kurds ponder Afrin’s recapture in shadow of Idlib crisis
- Erdogan Is Holding a Gun to His Own Head in Syria
- Europe should return Turks as Erdogan opens the refugee floodgates
- Nelson Mandela and Abdullah Ocalan: Bound by revolutionary solidarity
- Roots of a Civilisation: The Kurdish struggle amid Turkey’s war on dissent
- Iran’s Ongoing War Against Its Religious Minorities
- The making of the Iraqi cabinet is a comedy rerun
- McGurk: Syria Kurds ‘can’t count on US’ to protect them
- Kurdish leader becomes literary star behind bars
- ‘Erdogan Is Turning Libya Into a Terrorist Base’ Mesmari Warns
- Kurdistan After the U.S. Pullback
- Free Kurdish poet Ilhan Sami Çomak
- When one dies, the next goes up into the mountains – Interview with Kurdish director Selim Yildiz
- Can this veteran singer save Kurdish people’s forgotten tunes?
- Syria: Better To Be Feared Than Loved
- Syrian Kurds Seek Other Means of Trying IS Militants
- We must help Syrians bring ISIS to justice
- How ISIS Operates in Iraq’s Disputed Territories
- Turkey’s Unpalatable Choices in Syria
- As Conflict in Idlib Escalates, Turkey’s Balancing Act Is Tested
- Erdoğan preaches brand of democracy steeped in authoritarianism – analyst
- Turkey continues armored build-up for Idlib
- What If No One Can Ever Really Win a War Anymore?
- Opinion: Democratic Debate Ignores The Question of Syria
- Gezi trial shambles shows abysmal state of rule of law in Turkey
- Has Turkey’s Incursion into Syria Opened the Door for an Islamic State Comeback?
- Turkey And Russia Fight It Out: Is This The End Of The Road For Erdogan?
- Racist German Shooter Exposes the Global Network of Hate
- Turkish ploy to play U.S. and Russia middle man appears not paying off
- What’s at Stake for U.S., Turkey, Russia and Iran as Tensions Rise in War-Torn Syria
- How the Iranian regime has boxed itself in ahead of the crucial parliamentary elections
- Reconciliation with Turkey should only come with a price
- Kurdish artist flees Turkish prosecution to find creative sanctuary in Germany
- Intel: What’s behind Erdogan’s latest threat of imminent attack in Syria
- As Assad advances in Idlib – Turkey finds itself in a tough spot between Trump and Putin
- The Syria Trap: How Erdogan Made New Enemies and Enraged the Arab Community
- Is This the End of Rojava?
- Arguments for and Against Trying European Foreign Terrorist Fighters in Syria
- “I call myself an half-Indian”: Kurdish singer Mico Kedes at 5th Udaipur World Music Festival
- SDF denies supporting Syrian government offensive against rebels in northwest Syria
- The Inconvenient Truth About ISIS
- KCK: The conspiracy continues in the form of absolute isolation
- ’It’d be certain death’: After surviving years of war, Syrian Kurds now flee to Iraq fearing Assad’s draft
- The tragic consequences of Turkey’s colonization of Syria’s Kurdish Afrin region
- Turkey in Africa: what a small but growing interest portends
- Ankara shifts gears to cease-fire in Syria
- Syria is now an empire of rubble, beholden to Iraq and Russia, with Assad as a puppet ruler
- Turkey faces potential Russian blowback on Syria — and tomatoes are only the beginning
- SDF has ‘understandings’ with Syrian regime, not relations: Mustafa Bali
- Deadly clash in Syria a vivid reminder of US troops’ ill-defined mission
- Inside the Syrian detention camps where former ISIS members remain in limbo
- U.S. seeks shifting to Turkey-first policy in Syria – analysis
- Ocalan in Rome: An Italian Internationalist Remembers
- Europe could soon feel the fallout from Idlib
- The Iranian Left, Radical Change, And The National Question
VIDEO
- Only Mountains
- Shadow Munich Security Conference – The Truth Emerges From the Shadow
——————————
NEWS
- Former Turk Economy Czar Forms Party to Challenge Erdogan
09 Mar 2020 | Firat Kozok, Bloomberg
Ali Babacan, who presided over Turkey’s economy from 2009 to 2015, said he will announce his political party’s program on Wednesday in a move to challenge President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s rule.
- Violence at Turkey-Greece border like ‘a horror movie’: Migrants
08 Mar 2020 | Al Jazeera
Al Jazeera speaks to refugees and migrants who have been beaten and turned away while attempting to cross into Greece from Turkey.
- Assad’s ‘dangerous’ statement on Kurds could be message to Turkey: Official
08 Mar 2020 | Wladimir van Wilgenburg, Kurdistan24
A senior official from a local Kurdish-led self-administration in northeast Syria told Kurdistan 24 in an exclusive interview at a conference in Vienna on Friday that recent comments Kurdish groups made by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad may be part of an effort to reach out to Turkey.
https://www.kurdistan24.net/en/news/e6ae06f4-3946-4884-aa52-d74ca6bdad8e
- US-led Coalition rejects Assad’s charge of stealing Syria’s oil
07 Mar 2020 | Wladimir van Wilgenburg, Kurdistan24
Col. Myles Caggins, Spokesman for the US-led Coalition, formally known as Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Resolve, spoke on Friday during a joint press conference with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in Syria in the oil-rich town of Ramalan.
https://www.kurdistan24.net/en/news/19a5b446-c945-4660-a5ec-b9e0e837e648
- Report: Iran Revolutionary Guard commander killed in Syria
07 Mar 2020 | ABC News
An official with Iran’s Revolutionary Guard who took part in battles around war-torn Syria was killed near the Syrian capital, an Iranian semiofficial news agency and an opposition war monitor reported Saturday.
- Turkey continues crackdown on journalists, intellectuals
07 Mar 2020 | Ahval
Turkish authorities have arrested at least eight journalists this week in a renewed crackdown on the media.
https://ahvalnews.com/media-crackdown/turkey-continues-crackdown-journalists-intellectuals
- Iran plotted to change demographics in Iraq
07 Mar 2020 | GDN
Iraqi documents revealed that the Iranian intelligence managed to infiltrate the department in a bid to change the demographic structure of the country.
http://www.gdnonline.com/Details/785132
- Northeast Syrian parties condemn Assad’s Kurdish policies
07 Mar 2020 | Ahval News
Kurdish and Arab majority parties based in northeast Syria have said in a statement that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s mistaken analysis of the situation in northeast Syria threatened Syria’s unity, news agency ANHA reported on Friday.
https://ahvalnews.com/syrian-kurds/northeast-syrian-parties-condemn-assads-kurdish-policies
- Refugees told ‘Europe is closed’ as tensions rise at Greece-Turkey border
06 Mar 2020 | Jennifer Rankin et al, The Guardian
Teargas fired by both sides amid political standoff over people displaced by war in Syria.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/06/refugees-europe-closed-tensions-greece-turkey-border
- Assad: Kurdish issue in Syria is ‘illusive and a lie’
05 Mar 2020 | Karwan Faidhi Dri, Rudaw
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad claimed Thursday that the “Kurdish issue” does not exist in his country, calling it “illusive and a lie”. He also claimed that Kurds living in northern areas are originally from Turkey.
https://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeast/syria/050320201
- Activists hit out as anti-war slogans banned in Istanbul
05 Mar 2020 | Steve Sweeney, Morning Star
Activists and human-rights lawyers in Istanbul today demanded that a ban on the slogan “no to war” and demonstrations against military operations in Syria be overturned.
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/w/activists-hit-out-as-anti-war-slogans-banned-in-istanbul
- Women’s TUC vows to raise voices of women resisting brutality in Turkey
05 Mar 2020 | Morning Star
Delegates at TUC women’s conference vowed yesterday to step up their solidarity with women who are on the “front line of resistance” against Turkey’s brutal regime.
- Syrian Kurds worry IS camp could riot as Turkey weaponizes water
05 Mar 2020 | Amberin Zaman, Al-Monitor
Fears of a breakdown in security in al-Hol camp, which houses tens of thousands of families of Islamic State fighters, are growing amid a continuing standoff between the Kurdish-led autonomous administration in northeast Syria and Turkey over the provision of water and electricity to areas under their respective control. The dispute has taken a dangerous twist as Turkey and Russia face off in the northwestern province of Idlib.
https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2020/03/al-hol-security-water-syria-turkey.html
- Putin and Erdogan Reach Accord to Halt Fighting in Syria
05 Mar 2020 | Andrew Higgins, New York Times
As President Vladimir V. Putin welcomed Turkey’s leader to Moscow, his primary goal is to protect his long-term project of dividing NATO.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/05/world/europe/putin-erdogan-syria.html
- KNK Rojava branch opens office in Qamishlo
05 Mar 2020 | ANF English
The Rojava branch of Kurdistan National Congress has opened its first office in the Kornish neighborhood of the Qamishlo city on Thursday.
https://anfenglishmobile.com/rojava-syria/knk-rojava-branch-opens-office-in-qamishlo-42093
- Kurdish Community of Armenia Rallies and Demands Turkey Allow Lawyers to Visit Imprisoned Öcalan
05 Mar 2020 | The Armenian Mirror-Spectator
The Kurdish community of Armenia rallied outside the UN office in Yerevan on February 29, calling on international bodies to demand Turkish authorities to allow the lawyers of PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan to visit him in prison
- Turkey claims migrant killed in Greek border clash
04 Mar 2020 | BBC
Turkish officials have said a man was fatally wounded when Greek security forces opened fire as migrants gathered at the border on Wednesday.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-51735715
- Kurdish fighter’s family deported to Syria as EU pledges millions in migrant crack-down
04 Mar 2020 | Morning Star
European Commission president Ursula von Leyden pledged €700m to help Greece crack down on refugees.
- Turkey says millions of migrants may head to EU
02 Mar 2020 | BBC
The Turkish president has warned that “millions” of migrants and refugees will soon head towards Europe.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-51707958
- Report: War Crimes Committed by Almost All Sides in Syria
02 Mar 2020 | New York Times
Investigators for the U.N.-backed Human Rights Council said on Monday that they had found evidence of war crimes in Syria committed by nearly all sides in the conflict during the second half of last year and into January.
https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2020/03/02/world/middleeast/ap-ml-un-syria-war-crimes.html
- Kurdish refugee and journalist Behrouz Boochani’s book ‘No Friend but the Mountains’ to be made into a film
01 Mar 2020 | Ashleigh Stewart, The National
The award-winning book composed by Iranian refugee Behrouz Boochani while he was detained in one of Australia’s offshore detention centres is now being made into a film.
- Tensions escalate after Russian journalists held in Turkey
01 Mar 2020 | Steve Sweeney, Morning Star
Tensions escalated between Turkey and Russia today with the detention of four journalists from the Russian Sputnik news agency in Ankara and Istanbul.
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/w/tensions-escalate-russian-journalists-held-turkey
- Turkey launches Operation Spring Shield against Syrian forces
01 Mar 2020 | Amberin Zaman, Al-Monitor
Ankara said March 1 that it had launched Operation Spring Shield against the Syrian Arab Army on a day that saw Turkey down two Russian-made Syrian air force jets and Russian President Vladimir Putin agree to meet Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on March 5 over the unfolding Idlib crisis.
https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2020/03/operation-spring-shield-clash-turkey-syrian-arab-army-idlib.html
- Syria war: Turkey says thousands of migrants have crossed to EU
29 Feb 2020 | BBC
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says 18,000 migrants have crossed Turkish borders into Europe after the country “opened the doors” for them to travel.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-51687160
- Turkey welcomes British move to define TAK and HPG as PKK ‘aliases’
29 Feb 2020 | Rudaw
British officials on Friday listed the Kurdistan Freedom Hawks (TAK) and the People’s Defense Forces (HPG) as “aliases” of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, which the UK considers a terrorist organization.
https://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeast/turkey/290220201
- Öcalan: “Everything Depends on your Struggle”
28 Feb 2020 | International Initiative “Freedom For Abdullah Ocalan – Peace in Kurdistan”
On 03 March, the families of Abdullah Öcalan, Ömer Hayri Konar and Veysi Aktaş were allowed to visit İmralı Island Prison. This visit followed the outbreak of fires on İmralı Island on 27 February, and marks the first visit allowed to İmralı Prison for 6 months. Following this visit, Öcalan’s brother Mehmet released a statement about the visit and his discussion with Öcalan. The International Initiative documents this statement below.
http://freeocalan.org/news/english/family-visit-statement-march-2020
- Greece and Bulgaria crack down on Turkish borders as refugees arrive
28 Feb 2020 | Bethan McKernan and Daniel Boffey, The Guardian
Hundreds of refugees in Turkey began arriving at the country’s borders with Greece and Bulgaria on Friday after Ankara suddenly indicated it would no longer block their passage to Europe.
- Officials to close Syria-Kurdistan Region border to block coronavirus
28 Feb 2020 | Wladimir van Wilgenburg, Kurdistan24
The main border crossing between the Kurdistan Region and Syrian Kurdistan will be temporarily closed on Sunday as an emergency measure to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, local authorities in northeastern Syria announced on Thursday.
https://www.kurdistan24.net/en/news/84714a1a-24c4-4854-bec3-09820b6f3cfb
- Syria war: Alarm after 33 Turkish soldiers killed in attack in Idlib
28 Feb 2020 | BBC
At least 33 Turkish soldiers have died in a Syrian government attack in opposition-held north-western Syria, in a major escalation of the conflict.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-51667717
- On the Fires on İmralı Island
28 Feb 2020 | International Initiative “Freedom For Abdullah Ocalan – Peace in Kurdistan”
Following the fires on İmralı Island, Asrın Law Office and International Initiative released statements.
http://freeocalan.org/news/english/statements-on-fire-on-imrali-island
- Ancient Kurdish town in Turkey soon to be submerged
27 Feb 2020 | Sarkawt Mohammed, Rudaw
An ancient Kurdish town in southeastern Turkey is slowly drowning as a nearby government-built dam fills up. The history of Hasankeyf, Batman province, dates back 12,000 years.
https://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeast/turkey/27022020
- Airstrike Hits Turkish Forces in Syria, Raising Fears of Escalation
27 Feb 2020 | Carlotta Gall, New York Times
The Turkish Army suffered mass casualties in an airstrike in northwest Syria late Thursday, an attack that could dramatically change the course of the Syrian war as fears grow of a direct conflict between Russia and Turkey, a NATO member.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/27/world/middleeast/russia-turkey-syria-war-strikes.html
- Turkey vows to drive Syrian forces back from Idlib
26 Feb 2020 | Al Jazeera
Turkey plans to push Syrian government forces away from its military observation posts in northwest Syria’s Idlib region by the end of February, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, despite advances by the Russian-backed military.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/02/turkey-vows-drive-syrian-forces-idlib-200226104230214.html
- Pentagon dismisses Syria re-engagement amid Idlib showdown
26 Feb 2020 | Jack Detsch, Al-Monitor
The Donald Trump administration is not considering reengaging militarily in the Syrian civil war amid stepped-up fighting in Idlib province, Defense Secretary Mark Esper told lawmakers today.
- Briefing of the 2020 International Peace Delegation to İmralı
19 Feb 2020 | International Initiative – “Freedom For Abdullah Ocalan – Peace in Kurdistan”
The following text is of the briefing released by the 2020 International Peace Delegation to İmralı.
http://freeocalan.org/news/english/2020-international-peace-delegation-to-imrali-briefing
- Turkey-backed forces accused of cutting water to Syrian Kurdish-run region
25 Feb 2020 | Amberin Zaman, Al-Monitor
Turkey’s pressure campaign on Kurdish-controlled northeastern Syria took a fresh sinister turn this week when Turkish-backed Syrian rebel forces reportedly halted service at the Alok pumping station in the Turkish-occupied town of Ras al-Ain. The facility supplies water to approximately 460,000 people, including hundreds of thousands of internally displaced Syrians as well as Islamic State captives and their families.
- Trying Erdogan for war crimes
25 Feb 2020 | Morning Star
Like many people around the world, we were deeply shocked by the Turkish attack on Kurds and ethnic minorities – Armenians, Assyrians and many more – in Rojava, northern Syria, who were living in harmony and sharing the running of their communities.
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/f/trying-erdogan-war-crimes
- Syrian Kurdish PYD party elects new co-chairs
25 Feb 2020 | Wladimir van Wilgenburg, Kurdistan24
The dominant Kurdish political party in Syria’s Kurdish-majority areas elected new co-chairs during its two-day Congress that concluded on Tuesday in the country’s northeast.
https://www.kurdistan24.net/en/news/4e2f0293-7acb-4e67-8670-e59d977f32c4
- HDP Congress opens in Ankara
23 Feb 2020 | ANF English
Peoples’ Democratic Congress 4th Ordinary Congress opened in Ankara Sports Hall. HDP deputy co-chair Azad Barış delivered the opening speech before the election of the congress presidency.
https://anfenglishmobile.com/news/hdp-congress-opens-in-ankara-41817
- Iraqi Kurds rally against ‘corruption’ of ruling elite
23 Feb 2020 | Dhaka Tribune
On Saturday, thousands took to the streets of the city to decry tough living conditions in a region which has been autonomous since 1991.
- Turkey’s pro-Kurdish HDP elects new leadership at 4th party congress
23 Feb 2020 | Mohammed Rwanduzy, Rudaw
Turkey’s pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party on Sunday elected Medhat Sancar as the new male co-chair of the party and re-elected female co-chair Pervin Buldan during its fourth party congress in the Turkish capital Ankara.
https://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeast/turkey/230220201
- Over 1,000 Syrian Kurdish refugees arrive in Kurdistan in one month
23 Feb 2020 | Kurdistan24
Since late last month, over one thousand new Syrian Kurdish refugees have arrived in the Kurdistan Region, adding to close to 250,000 other displaced Syrians the region hosts.
https://www.kurdistan24.net/en/news/2ba2aa61-08b3-413b-82c3-c9537cebb187
- PYD to hold 8th Ordinary Congress
23 Feb 2020 | ANF English
The congress will be held under the motto “We will defeat invasion through democratic unity, develop autonomous administration and build democratic Syria”.
https://anfenglishmobile.com/rojava-syria/pyd-to-hold-8th-ordinary-congress-41838
- Erdoğan to meet with Putin, Merkel and Macron to discuss Syria situation
22 Feb 2020 | J. Edward Moreno, The Hill
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced Saturday that he will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron on March 5 to discuss the situation in northwest Syria, where nearly a million people have been displaced amid aggression from Russian-backed Syrian forces.
- Earthquake in Turkey-Iran border region kills nine, injures more than 100
22 Feb 2020 | Irem Koca and Jonathan Spicer, Reuters
Nine people were killed and buildings collapsed across southeastern Turkey on Sunday when a magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck near the border with Iran, injuring more than a hundred in villages and towns in both countries, government officials said.
- UN warns of ‘bloodbath’ as Syria fighting escalates
21 Feb 2020 | Al Jazeera
The United Nations warned on Friday that escalating fighting in northwest Syria could end in a “bloodbath” as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan phoned Russia’s leader to discuss the quickly deteriorating situation.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/02/warns-bloodbath-syria-fighting-escalates-200221113239070.html
- Turkey’s HDP calls for international solidarity as congress opens
21 Feb 2020 | Steve Sweeney, Morning Star
Turkey’s opposition Peoples’ Democratic Party opens its congress in Ankara tomorrow, calling for a widening of international solidarity as it faces unprecedented attacks and attempts at political genocide.
- Kurds still grapple with their native tongue on International Mother Language Day
21 Feb 2020 | Mohammed Rwanduzy, Rudaw
Kurds worldwide commemorated International Mother Language Day on February 21, but the ethnolinguistic community still struggles with its use due a history of repressive state measures, and struggles to standardize the language.
https://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeast/turkey/21022020
- Thousands of Foreign ISIS Fighters in Syria Will Go on Trial Starting in March
20 Feb 2020 | Hind Hassan, Amel Guettatfi, and Adam Desiderio, Vice News
Thousands of foreign Islamic State fighters currently held in northeastern Syria will be put on trial by a new court system as early as March, a senior Kurdish official told VICE News.
- Fears raised over safety of Kurdish media-freedom campaigner after police detain him
20 Feb 2020 | Steve Sweeney, Morning Star
Concerns were raised for the safety of veteran Kurdish media-freedom campaigner Hakki Boltan after he was detained during a police raid on his home in Turkey’s south-eastern city of Diyarbakir yesterday.
- Syria Kurds of ENKS raise fears of ‘demographic change’ with Turkish FM
20 Feb 2020 | Mohammed Rwanduzy, Rudaw
A delegation of the Syrian Kurdish National Council on Wednesday met with the Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu to discuss abuses and demographic changes in the Kurdish areas of northern Syria occupied by Turkish forces and their Syrian proxies.
https://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeast/syria/200220201
- GOP lawmaker makes unannounced trip to northeastern Syria
20 Feb 2020 | Laura Kelly, The Hill
A Republican lawmaker made an unannounced trip to Syria this past week, meeting with Kurdish fighters allied with the U.S. against ISIS and American aid workers helping civilians caught in the crossfire of Turkey’s offensive into the region.
- Sociology of Freedom Soon Available in English
19 Feb 2020 | International Initiative – “Freedom For Abdullah Ocalan – Peace in Kurdistan”
The third volume of Abdullah Öcalan’s Manifesto of the Democratic Civilization, entitled Sociology of Freedom, will soon be released in English.
http://freeocalan.org/news/english/sociology-of-freedom-english-coming-soon
- Building Free Life Now Available in English
19 Feb 2020 | International Initiative – “Freedom For Abdullah Ocalan – Peace in Kurdistan”
Building Free Life: Dialogues with Abdullah Öcalan features contributions from a wide number of writers and academics from the around the world reflecting on the thought of Abdullah Öcalan and the global significance of the struggle for an alternative of the people of Kurdistan.
http://freeocalan.org/news/english/building-free-life-english
- Forcing Russian vehicle off Syrian road, US military sends a strong message
19 Feb 2020 | Tom Rogan, Washington Examiner
In continuing breach of its word, the Russian military is harassing U.S. military forces in northern and eastern Syria. Fortunately, the U.S. military is pushing back.
- Erdogan threatens ‘imminent’ Turkish operation in Syria
19 Feb 2020 | Al Jazeera
Turkish leader says talks with Russia over northwest Syria failed to achieve ‘desired result’.
- Syrian army strengthens Aleppo grip before Russia-Turkey talks
16 Feb 2020 | Al Jazeera
Syrian government forces have made significant advances in their military push against the last major rebel bastion in the country’s northwest, according to state media, in a ferocious offensive that has forced hundreds of thousands of people from their homes.
- KODAR calls on people to boycott Iranian elections
16 Feb 2020 | ANF English
KODAR Coordination member Ehven Çiyako said that the elections in Iran should be boycotted otherwise the regime will legitimize itself. Çiyako urged the opposition to act jointly.
https://anfenglishmobile.com/kurdistan/kodar-calls-on-people-to-boycott-iranian-elections-41649
- International Peace Delegation: We are not seeing any progress in Mr Öcalan’s situation and this gives great cause to concern
12 Feb 2020 | HDP English
The International Peace Delegation has arrived in Turkey. The delegation consisting of former Iceland Justice Minister Ögmundur Jónasson, academician and anthropologist Felix John Padel, human rights defender Melanie Ann Gingell, Welsh Trade Union Congress General Secretary Shavanah Taj and the member of the European Parliament Julie Ward paid a visit to our headquarters and met with our co-chair Pervin Buldan.
- Syria war: ‘One killed’ as US troops clash with government loyalists near Qamishli
12 Feb 2020 | BBC
A man has reportedly been killed in a rare confrontation in north-eastern Syria between US-led coalition forces and pro-government militia fighters.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-51477229
- Syrian Kurds to begin trials for foreign ISIS fighters next month
12 Feb 2020 | Tessa Fox, The National
After months of deadlock, the Kurdish government will begin trials of foreign ISIS members, a Syrian Kurdish official said after a meeting with the Finnish government.
- Clash with Syrian regime forces kills five Turkish troops in Idlib
10 Feb 2020 | Amberin Zaman, Al-Monitor
Turkey’s military intervention in the nine-year-old Syrian conflict took a further deadly turn when regime forces killed five Turkish soldiers in the rebel-held northwestern province of Idlib today.
OPINION, COMMENTARY, ANALYSIS
- Why Northeast Syria matters
09 Mar 2020 | The Hill
Lost in the news of the deteriorating situation in Syria is the story of a burgeoning democracy that promotes freedom of religion and belief. Obviously, this is not the government of Bashar al-Assad but rather the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria.
https://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/foreign-policy/486682-why-northeast-syria-matters
- In Northeast Syria, US and Russia in Fragile Coexistence
09 Mar 2020 | Asharq Al-Awsat
On a Syrian highway, Hussein Abdel Hamid recently found himself trapped inside his car. A US army patrol had encountered Russian tanks down the road, neither allowing the other passage.
https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/2171237/northeast-syria-us-and-russia-fragile-coexistence
- Remembering Hevrîn Xelef
08 Mar 2020 | Sarah Glynn, Bella Caledonia
The world is rarely black and white, but in the life and brutal death of Hevrîn Xelef we face an awful and real example of good pitted against evil. Hevrîn was clearly a remarkable woman, but she was more than an individual heroine.
https://bellacaledonia.org.uk/2020/03/08/remembering-hevrin-xelef/
- How Far Can Russia-Turkey Deal Over Syria’s Idlib Go?
08 Mar 2020 | Sirwan Kajjo, Voice of America
A recent cease-fire deal brokered by Russia and Turkey in the northwestern Syrian province of Idlib seems to be largely holding.
https://www.voanews.com/extremism-watch/how-far-can-russia-turkey-deal-over-syrias-idlib-go
- Fears rise for Syria’s lost generation
07 Mar 2020 | Osama Al Sharif, Gulf News
It would take years for many to return, and integration into society will take longer.
https://gulfnews.com/opinion/op-eds/fears-rise-for-syrias-lost-generation-1.70177355
- It turns out the world could have saved Syria all along
07 Mar 2020 | James Miller, Ahval
The scale of the death and destruction in Syria is unfathomable. While the United Nations stopped counting the dead in 2016 and the casualties of the revolution-turned-proxy-war are notoriously hard to calculate, it’s an extremely conservative estimate that half a million people have been killed—approximately 2.5 percent of Syria’s prewar population.
https://ahvalnews.com/syria/it-turns-out-world-could-have-saved-syria-all-along
- International Women’s Day in Iran: Kurdish activists challenge patriarchy
07 Mar 2020 | Jabar Dastbaz, Rudaw
International Women’s Day celebrations are officially prohibited in Iran, yet activists refuse to remain silent, using the occasion to highlight the persecution of women in the Islamic Republic, including gender-based violence, self-immolation, honor killings, and inequality.
https://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeast/iran/07032020
- Libyan front looks bleak for Erdogan
06 Mar 2020 | Fehim Tastekin, Al-Monitor
Engaged in two wars simultaneously in Syria and Libya, Turkey appears far from achieving its stated objectives on both fronts. The Syrian battlefield escalated dramatically after the killing of at least 36 Turkish soldiers in Idlib Feb. 27, but Turkey’s retributive strikes on Syrian forces resulted in little change on the ground by March 5, when it agreed to a cease-fire deal with Russia.
- NATO Is in Denial About the Risk of War Between Turkey and Russia
06 Mar 2020 | Candace Rondeaux, World Politics Review
For most close observers, it has long seemed only a matter of time before the long, bloody proxy war between Turkey and Russia for regional predominance in the Middle East would break out into full-scale direct hostilities.
- Syria Is Turkey’s Problem, Not America’s
06 Mar 2020 | Steven A. Cook, Foreign Policy
The war in Idlib is a growing humanitarian crisis, a potential disaster for Ankara—and a problem that doesn’t bear on Washington.
https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/03/06/syria-turkey-us-problem-idlib-crisis/
- Fragile Cease-Fire in Syria Offers Few Hopes for Displaced Civilians
06 Mar 2020 | Jared Malsin, Wall Street Journal
A shaky cease-fire took hold in northwestern Syria on Friday following an agreement by Turkey and Russia aimed at ending hostilities that heightened the risk of war between the two powers.
- An army of feminists
06 Mar 2020 | Anjana Sankar, Khaleej Times
Belkin’s cherubic face and unalloyed demeanour couldn’t be more deceiving. At 18, she would easily pass as a woolly-headed teenage girl if not for her crisp military jumpsuit and khaki boots. Inside the stern and austere visitors’ room at the military headquarters of YPJ in Northeast Syria, Belkin (name changed to protect identity) was warm and welcoming. The sloppy hobble in her gait was unmissable as she strolled across the room to make us a cup of tea.
https://www.khaleejtimes.com/wknd/an-army-of-feminists
- Where Standing Up for Kurdish Rights Is a Crime
06 Mar 2020 | Kerem Schamberger, Jacobin
In Germany, that supposed bastion of liberal democracy, the state treats standing up for Kurdish rights as tantamount to terrorism — and hits activists with house searches, imprisonment, and even deportation.
https://jacobinmag.com/2020/03/germany-kurdish-repression-zozan-ypg
- Putin saves Erdogan from himself
06 Mar 2020 | Pepe Escobar, Asia Times
At the start of their discussion marathon in Moscow on Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin addressed Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan with arguably the most extraordinary diplomatic gambit of the young 21st century.
https://asiatimes.com/2020/03/putin-saves-erdogan-from-himself/
- Syria Debacles Epitomize Perpetual Perfidy of U.S. Foreign Policy
06 Mar 2020 | James Bovard, Counter Punch
Turkey is ratcheting up its invasion of Syria and trying to drag NATO into Erdogan’s personal rehabilitation scheme. Threats and counter-threats are flying as thickly as the bombs and bullets. It remains to be seen whether U.S. policymakers will blunder deeper into this quagmire.
- Turkey is using Idlib to create permanent presence in Syria: expert
05 Mar 2020 | Almasdar News
Turkish authorities seek to use the crisis in Syria’s Idlib province to create permanent Turkish military presence in the Arab Republic, says Andrey Baklanov, deputy chairman of Russian Diplomat Association Council.
- Pompeo’s Turkish Gambit Fails in Syria
05 Mar 2020 | Matthew Petti, National Interest
The State Department was banking on Turkey to push Russia out of Syria, but the two countries have come to the table.
- Syrian Kurds worry IS camp could riot as Turkey weaponizes water
05 Mar 2020 | Amberin Zaman, Al-Monitor
Fears of a breakdown in security in al-Hol camp, which houses tens of thousands of families of Islamic State fighters, are growing amid a continuing standoff between the Kurdish-led autonomous administration in northeast Syria and Turkey over the provision of water and electricity to areas under their respective control. The dispute has taken a dangerous twist as Turkey and Russia face off in the northwestern province of Idlib.
- Your F-35 Is In Another Castle: Why Turkey Might Buy Russia’s Su-35 Fighter
04 Mar 2020 | Mark Episkopos, National Interest
If NATO can dismiss the S-400 deal as an unfortunate one-off affair, then a Su-35 import contract would confirm what some western analysts maintain to be a long-term reorientation in Turkish defense priorities.
- How Russia’s Putin became the go-to man on Syria
04 Mar 2020 | Jonathan Marcus, BBC
President Recep Tayip Erdogan of Turkey needs to extricate himself from a difficult situation in Syria so he heads for the one capital that matters, not Washington but Moscow.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-51733595
- Battle for Idlib: Turkey’s drones and a new way of war
03 Mar 2020 | Alex Gatopoulos, Al Jazeera
What gives drones an edge over manned aircraft in certain missions and why is Turkey suddenly excelling at them?
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/03/battle-idlib-turkey-drones-war-200303170724302.html
- Erdogan’s imperial play comes undone
03 Mar 2020 | Alex Callinicos, Socialist Worker
The Brazilian Marxist Ruy Mauro Marini coined the concept of “sub-imperialism” back in the 1960s. He was trying to make sense of the dynamic of capitalist development in a society like Brazil. The country was then in the process of industrialising and expanding, but still operating within the economic, political, and military limits set by the leading global powers.
https://socialistworker.co.uk/art/49692/Erdogans+imperial+play+comes+undone
- The US shouldn’t support Turkey’s reckless moves in Syria
03 Mar 2020 | Willis Krumholz, Business Insider
At least 33 Turkish soldiers were killed in Syria’s Idlib province by an airstrike conducted by Syrian government forces, who are backed by Russia. Another 35 were injured in the attack. In response, Turkey launched strikes of its own against Syrian forces.
- What’s behind Ankara’s decision to lift visit ban on jailed PKK leader?
03 Mar 2020 | Amberin Zaman, Al-Monitor
The Turkish government granted jailed Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan, 71, access to his family after a seven-month pause. Coming amid Turkey’s escalating war against Syrian regime forces in the northwestern province of Idlib, the move has sparked a flurry of speculation on the government’s motives.
- Turkey, EU and the imperilled refugee deal
03 Mar 2020 | Umut Uras, Al Jazeera
Ankara accuses Brussels of not living up to promises it made in a 2016 deal that almost halted refugee flow to EU.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/03/turkey-eu-imperilled-refugee-deal-200302085719576.html
- Turkey’s Evolving Approach to its Neighborhood: The Case of Georgia & Ukraine
02 Mar 2020 | Emil Avadliani, Georgia Today
Many regard Turkey’s involvement in Syria as a reflection of the country’s ambitious foreign policy to reinstate parts of the Ottoman Empire, whose existence ended following World War I. However, rather than connecting Turkey’s current foreign policy to its Ottoman past, for those living in the region bordering on Turkey, it is the country’s geography that is perhaps the most powerful driver behind Ankara’s geopolitical moves in the last decade.
- Syrian Kurds ponder Afrin’s recapture in shadow of Idlib crisis
02 Mar 2020 | Fehim Tastekin, Al-Monitor
As fighting in Syria’s rebel bastion of Idlib rages on, fueled by a Turkish thrust to reverse government gains, a less palpable but related struggle is under way to the north, where the Syrian Kurds are weighing their options on how to wrestle back Turkish-controlled Afrin.
- Erdogan Is Holding a Gun to His Own Head in Syria
02 Mar 2020 | Bobby Ghosh, Asharq Al-Awsat
Under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey has updated this unique bargaining technique by contriving to aim one pistol at the West even as it presses another to its own temple.
https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/2158451/bobby-ghosh/erdogan-holding-gun-his-own-head-syria
- Europe should return Turks as Erdogan opens the refugee floodgates
02 Mar 2020 | Michael Rubin, Washington Examiner
As Syrian President Bashar Assad’s bombardment sent Syrians fleeing across the Turkish border in search of safety, Erdogan’s government would offer citizenship to Arabs who agreed to settle in predominantly Kurdish regions and Sunnis who would settle in predominantly Alevi areas. That was an offer many wealthier Syrian Arabs could not refuse even if it meant increasing ethnic and sectarian tensions with their new neighbors.
- Nelson Mandela and Abdullah Ocalan: Bound by revolutionary solidarity
02 Mar 2020 | Peter Boyle and Sidney Luckett, Green Left
One of the international participants in the 2020 Long March for the freedom of Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan was Sidney Luckett, a veteran anti-Apartheid activist from Capetown, South Africa.
- Roots of a Civilisation: The Kurdish struggle amid Turkey’s war on dissent
01 Mar 2020 | RISHI KOCHHAR AND TANVI MISHRA
ON 2 SEPTEMBER 2017, Çağdaş Erdoğan, a Turkish photojournalist of Kurdish descent, was detained while walking through Istanbul’s Yoğurtçu Park. He was initially accused of photographing the headquarters of the Millî İstihbarat Teşkilatı, Turkey’s intelligence agency.
https://caravanmagazine.in/photo-essay/kurdish-struggle-turkey-war-dissent
- Iran’s Ongoing War Against Its Religious Minorities
01 Mar 2020 | Haidar Khezri, Iran Press Watch
Iran celebrates the 41st anniversary of the Islamic Revolution by continuing its ongoing war against religious minorities.
http://iranpresswatch.org/post/20806/irans-ongoing-war-religious-minorities/
- The making of the Iraqi cabinet is a comedy rerun
01 Mar 2020 | Ibrahim Zobeidi, The Arab Weekly
Clearly, Iraq, its fate and its people are unfortunately the last things on the minds of the Barazanis and the Talabanis.
https://thearabweekly.com/making-iraqi-cabinet-comedy-rerun
- McGurk: Syria Kurds ‘can’t count on US’ to protect them
29 Feb 2020 | Majeed Gly, Rudaw
Since the US military abruptly withdrew from the Syria-Turkey border in October 2019, there has been great uncertainty across the region about the future of America’s support for its Kurdish allies in the fight against the Islamic State.
https://www.rudaw.net/english/interview/29022020
- Kurdish leader becomes literary star behind bars
29 Feb 2020 | Fulya Ozerkan, Saudi Gazette
He may be languishing in jail but with his books flying off the shelves, Kurdish politician Selahattin Demirtas has joined an illustrious line of Turkish prison writers.
- ‘Erdogan Is Turning Libya Into a Terrorist Base’ Mesmari Warns
29 Feb 2020 | TeleSur
Major General Ahmed al-Mesmari, the spokesman of the Libyan National Army commanded by General Khalifa Haftar, denounced that Turkey’s President Recep Tayeb Erdogan is sending Syrian mercenaries to Libya and turning this African country into a terrorist shuttle that threatens the entire region.
- Kurdistan After the U.S. Pullback
28 Feb 2020 | Bernard-Henri Levy, Wall Street Journal
It’s my first time in Kurdistan since the U.S. pulled back and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his proxies invaded last October. How is the situation on the ground?
https://www.wsj.com/articles/kurdistan-after-the-u-s-pullback-11582935154
- Free Kurdish poet Ilhan Sami Çomak
28 Feb 2020 | The Guardian
Signatories including George Szirtes and Ruth Padel are appealing to Boris Johnson and Dominic Raab to help free the writer, who has been jailed in Turkey for 26 years despite evidence of his innocence.
https://www.theguardian.com/law/2020/feb/28/free-kurdish-poet-ilhan-sami-comak
- When one dies, the next goes up into the mountains – Interview with Kurdish director Selim Yildiz
27 Feb 2020 | Qantara
In his film “Dialogue“, Selim Yildiz addresses a social taboo which is a reality for many Kurds in Turkey: young men suddenly disappear and joined armed groups in the mountains. Interview by Semiran Kaya.
- Can this veteran singer save Kurdish people’s forgotten tunes?
27 Feb 2020 | Dana Taid Menmy, Al-Monitor
Age has not stopped Mazhar Khaliqi, the legendary Iranian Kurdish singer who heads the Sulaimaniyah-based Kurdish Heritage Institute, a nongovernmental institute for preserving Kurdish national heritage and music.
- Syria: Better To Be Feared Than Loved
27 Feb 2020 | Strategy Page
In the northwest (Idlib province), two more Turkish soldiers were killed, and two others wounded, by a Russian airstrike. So far this month about twenty Turkish troops have died in Syria. The Turks seek to avoid these casualties because they are very unpopular with Turkish voters who, in general, do not support getting involved in Arab civil wars or rebellions.
https://www.strategypage.com/qnd/syria/articles/20200227.aspx
- Syrian Kurds Seek Other Means of Trying IS Militants
26 Feb 2020 | Sirwan Kajjo, Voice of America
In an effort to reduce the burden of Islamic State foreign fighters, U.S.-backed Syrian forces have recently handed over more than 300 IS militants, who have been captured in Syria, to the Iraqi government, which will reportedly try them for their actions against Iraqi civilians and security forces.
https://www.voanews.com/extremism-watch/syrian-kurds-seek-other-means-trying-militants
- We must help Syrians bring ISIS to justice
25 Feb 2020 | The National
Syrian Kurdish authorities have announced they will begin to put foreign ISIS members on trial next month, and have asked for the international community to aid them in the prosecutions. Almost one year after the fall of ISIS’s last bastion in Syria, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, who rule the country’s north-east, still hold 12,000 suspected ISIS members and their families in makeshift camps and prisons.
https://www.thenational.ae/opinion/editorial/we-must-help-syrians-bring-isis-to-justice-1.984515
- How ISIS Operates in Iraq’s Disputed Territories
25 Feb 2020 | Adam Lucente, The Medialine
In an interview with French media this month, Kurdistan Region of Iraq Prime Minister Masrour Barzani said there is a “great possibility” that ISIS will stage a comeback in Iraq, especially in territories under dispute between the Kurdistan Regional Government and the federal government in Baghdad.
https://themedialine.org/by-region/how-isis-operates-in-iraqs-disputed-territories/
- Turkey’s Unpalatable Choices in Syria
24 Feb 2020 | Galip Dalay, Lawfare
Syria’s northwestern province of Idlib is experiencing a deepening humanitarian crisis. As the Russia-backed Syrian regime pushes to retake this last major enclave of the Syrian opposition, hundreds of thousands of people have fled towards Turkey’s borders. According to the United Nations, 700,000 people have fled Idlib since Dec. 1.
https://www.lawfareblog.com/turkeys-unpalatable-choices-syria
- As Conflict in Idlib Escalates, Turkey’s Balancing Act Is Tested
23 Feb 2020 | Umut Korkut and Tarik Basbugoglu, National Interest
The recent turn of events in Idlib, an opposition stronghold in north-western Syria undergoing bombardment by the Syrian military, has put Turkey in a difficult position. Since the end of January, Syrian regime forces have killed 13 Turkish soldiers who were monitoring a tense ceasefire in Idlib. It now looks like the Syrian army is gradually winning the battle for Idlib.
https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/conflict-idlib-escalates-turkeys-balancing-act-tested-125006
- Erdoğan preaches brand of democracy steeped in authoritarianism – analyst
23 Feb 2020 | Ahval
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan declares his country a beacon of democracy and peace in the region while shutting down free speech and imprisoning those daring to think outside the state-sanctioned narrative, wrote Dimitri Gonis, lecturer at Australia’s La Trobe University.
- Turkey continues armored build-up for Idlib
22 Feb 2020 | Seth J. Frantzman, Jerusalem Post
Turkey has concentrated hundreds of armored vehicles in Idlib province to try to slow-down a Russian-backed Syrian regime offensive. New photos on Saturday showed Leopard tanks and a T-300 rocket launcher as part of a Multi-Barrel Rocket Launcher Kasirga system.
https://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Turkey-continues-armored-build-up-for-Idlib-618389
- What If No One Can Ever Really Win a War Anymore?
22 Feb 2020 | Cian O’Driscoll, National Interest
Kurdish forces seized control of the Syrian town of Kobani in January 2015 after a four-month battle with Islamic State fighters. Footage of their triumph was relayed around the world. A global audience witnessed Kurdish troops indulge in raucous celebrations as they raised their flag on the hill that once flew the IS black banner.
https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/what-if-no-one-can-ever-really-win-war-anymore-126016
- Opinion: Democratic Debate Ignores The Question of Syria
22 Feb 2020 | Scott Simon, NPR
For all the words uttered about urgent, vital issues at this week’s Democratic presidential debate, one was missing: Syria. The war in Syria has gone on for 9 years.
- Gezi trial shambles shows abysmal state of rule of law in Turkey
21 Feb 2020 | Ahval
The acquittal of Turkish civil society activist Osman Kavala this week on charges of attempting to overthrow the government by organising 2013 Gezi Park protests and his absurd re-arrest the same day on coup-charges shows the abysmal state of the rule of law in Turkey, said Marc Pierini, a visiting scholar at Carnegie Europe in Brussels.
https://ahvalnews.com/osman-kavala/gezi-trial-shambles-shows-abysmal-state-rule-law-turkey
- Has Turkey’s Incursion into Syria Opened the Door for an Islamic State Comeback?
21 Feb 2020 | Dareen Khalifa and Elizabeth Tsurkov, War on the Rocks
“People who travel north through these areas bid their family goodbye, in case they do not return,” said Samir, a lawyer living in Hajjin, south-eastern Syria, referring to areas in the countryside of Deir Ezzor. Worrying dynamics are emerging on the ground in northeast Syria.
- Turkey And Russia Fight It Out: Is This The End Of The Road For Erdogan?
21 Feb 2020 | Melik Kaylan, Forbes
Developments in Syria’s northern Idlib region have put Turkey’s President in a tight corner, perhaps the tightest since he first hijacked state power ten or more years ago. Upwards of a million refugees, purged by Assadist forces operating under Russian air support, are stumbling northwards toward the Turkish border.
- Racist German Shooter Exposes the Global Network of Hate
20 Feb 2020 | Jospehine Huetlin, Daily Beast
Late Wednesday night in the central German city Hanau, a gunman that police have identified as 43-year-old Tobias Rathjen opened fire at two shisha bars. They’re the kind of places favored by people who enjoy a laid-back atmosphere as they puff tobacco bubbling through water-filled hookahs, and on any given evening, many of those folks may be from Turkish, Kurdish, or North African backgrounds.
- Turkish ploy to play U.S. and Russia middle man appears not paying off
20 Feb 2020 | Ahval
Turkey has achieved little success in playing the middle man between Russia and the United States in northern Syria, hoping to prevent territorial gains by both Kurdish rebels and Syrian President Bashar Assad, two academics said in the Conversation on Wednesday.
https://ahvalnews.com/russia-turkey/turkish-ploy-play-us-and-russia-middle-man-appears-not-paying
- What’s at Stake for U.S., Turkey, Russia and Iran as Tensions Rise in War-Torn Syria
20 Feb 2020 | Tom O’Connor, Newsweek
Syria’s final insurgent-held province, Idlib, is witnessing a surge in violence involving factions in the country’s nearly nine-year civil war as well as the international powers backing them, with civilians caught in the crossfire.
https://www.newsweek.com/what-us-russia-turkey-iran-stake-idlib-1488105
- How the Iranian regime has boxed itself in ahead of the crucial parliamentary elections
20 Feb 2020 | Alex Vatanka, The National
A low voter turnout at the weekend will be the latest indication that ordinary Iranians are just not happy with the regime in Tehran.
- Reconciliation with Turkey should only come with a price
19 Feb 2020 | Michael Rubin, Washington Examiner
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is threatening to fight the Syrian army directly if Syrian President Bashar Assad does not stop his assault on Idlib, the last major zone controlled by the Syrian opposition.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/reconciliation-with-turkey-should-only-come-with-a-price
- Kurdish artist flees Turkish prosecution to find creative sanctuary in Germany
19 Feb 2020 | Zhelwan Z. Wali, Rudaw
A Kurdish multidisciplinary artist who fled Turkish state prosecution for terror related charges is set to release her debut EP – and says other creative projects based on her life experiences are in the pipeline.
https://www.rudaw.net/english/culture/19022020
- Intel: What’s behind Erdogan’s latest threat of imminent attack in Syria
19 Feb 2020 | Amberin Zaman, Al-Monitor
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told the parliament Feb. 19 that an operation against Syrian government forces in the rebel-held province of Idlib was “a matter of moments” after talks between Turkish officials and their Russian counterparts in Moscow failed to deliver “the desired result.”
https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2020/02/intel-erdogan-idlib-syria-russia-threat-putin.html
- As Assad advances in Idlib – Turkey finds itself in a tough spot between Trump and Putin
18 Feb 2020 | Ahmed Aboudouh, Independent
Turkey’s back is to the wall over the Idlib crisis and it’s options are swiftly running out. According to the UN, the Russian-backed rapid advance of Syria’s Bashar al-Assad’s forces has displaced 900,000 civilians since December – and many will be banging on Turkey’s door for refuge.
- The Syria Trap: How Erdogan Made New Enemies and Enraged the Arab Community
18 Feb 2020 | Kamal Aman, The National Interest
As Recep Erdogan sends Turkish troops and Syrian rebel fighters into Libya, it has become clear that the Syrian forces Turkey-backed were never meant to fight against Assad but instead do Turkey’s bidding.
- Is This the End of Rojava?
18 Feb 2020 | Mireille Court and Chris Den Hond, The Nation
Turkish armed forces have controlled a strip of land in northeast Syria between the towns of Tell Abyad and Ras al-Ayn since October 9, 2019.
https://www.thenation.com/article/world/rojava-kurds-syria/
- Arguments for and Against Trying European Foreign Terrorist Fighters in Syria
17 Feb 2020 | Ardian Shajkovci, Homeland Security Today
The Syrian Democratic Forces recently announced that the foreign terrorist fighters under their custody will soon stand trial in Syria. According to the SDF officials, FTFs from the United Kingdom will be the first to face such trials, perhaps starting as early as this spring.
- “I call myself an half-Indian”: Kurdish singer Mico Kedes at 5th Udaipur World Music Festival
17 Mar 2020 | Sudipto Mullick, National Herald
Kurdish singer Kedes now lives in Switzerland but still longs for his motherland which is embroiled in a tense and violent situation. He tries to speak for his people in his songs whenever he can.
- SDF denies supporting Syrian government offensive against rebels in northwest Syria
16 Feb 2020 | Wladimir van Wilgenburg, Kurdistan24
An official spokesperson for the Syrian Democratic Forces has rejected media reports that the Kurdish-led forces are supporting the Syrian government’s operations against rebel-strongholds in Idlib and western Aleppo.
https://www.kurdistan24.net/en/news/f132ca3a-380a-48dc-b758-e8a34e9e6c4e
- The Inconvenient Truth About ISIS
16 Feb 2020 | Mike Giglio and Kathy Gilsinan, Defense One
The Islamic State has lost all of its territory; tens of thousands of its fighters have been killed or are imprisoned; and its former leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, is dead. But a Kurdish leader who witnessed the militant group’s rise and fall is warning that ISIS is putting itself back together and stressing an uncomfortable fact: that ISIS is bigger now than it was nearly six years ago, when it founded its self-styled caliphate.
https://www.defenseone.com/ideas/2020/02/inconvenient-truth-about-isis/163141/
- KCK: The conspiracy continues in the form of absolute isolation
15 Feb 2020 | ANF English
KCK called on the Kurds and their friends to increase the struggle to crush the absolute isolation and defeat the conspiracy, to strengthen their organization and to make their resistance and actions permanent.”
- ’It’d be certain death’: After surviving years of war, Syrian Kurds now flee to Iraq fearing Assad’s draft
15 Feb 2020 | Bel Trew, Indpendent
The parents of the Kurdish-Syrian teenager had survived years of war but began to panic when they heard rumours military conscription teams were coming to town.
- The tragic consequences of Turkey’s colonization of Syria’s Kurdish Afrin region
14 Feb 2020 | Paul Iddon, Global Comment
Two years ago, Turkey launched an unprovoked invasion of the northwestern Syrian Kurdish enclave of Afrin. Since then, primarily through its Syrian militia proxies, it has instigated a concerted campaign to upend the region’s long-established Kurdish-majority demographics as well as eradicate its cultural heritage.
- Turkey in Africa: what a small but growing interest portends
14 Feb 2020 | Francois Vrey, Towards Freedom
The strategic presence of France, the US and the UK in Africa over more than a century is well documented. So is the growing presence of China and the resurgence of Russia’s interest. But not much attention has been given to other countries growing their influence on the continent. One of them is Turkey.
https://towardfreedom.org/story/turkey-in-africa-what-a-small-but-growing-interest-portends/
- Ankara shifts gears to cease-fire in Syria
13 Feb 2020 | Amberin Zaman, Al-Monitor
Turkey’s defense minister sounded a more dovish note on his country’s ongoing military confrontation with Syria over Idlib today, telling fellow NATO ministers in Brussels that Ankara’s aim in sending some 5,000 additional troops to the rebel-held province was “to secure a lasting cease-fire.”
https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2020/02/turkey-rhetoric-calms-idlib-cease-fire.html
- Syria is now an empire of rubble, beholden to Iraq and Russia, with Assad as a puppet ruler
13 Feb 2020 | Gary Anderson, Washington Times
As I was preparing for a duty as an unarmed U.N. observer in Lebanon in 1986, the Marine Corps officer I was replacing gave me some good advice. “There are no good guys up there. Don’t take sides — even mentally. None of them has our country’s interests or yours in mind.” The multi-sided Lebanese civil war was incredibly complex and vicious, but it was small potatoes compared with today’s civil war in Syria.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2020/feb/13/syria-is-now-an-empire-of-rubble-beholden-to-iraq-/
- Turkey faces potential Russian blowback on Syria — and tomatoes are only the beginning
13 Feb 2020 | Gonul Tol, Middle East Institute
Turkish trucks carrying $10 million worth of tomatoes are stranded at the Russian border, again. The miles-long queues of vehicles awaiting clearance from Russian authorities are reminiscent of the strained ties between the two countries after Turkey shot down a Russian jet in 2015.
https://www.mei.edu/publications/turkey-faces-potential-russian-blowback-syria-and-tomatoes-are-only-beginning
- SDF has ‘understandings’ with Syrian regime, not relations: Mustafa Bali
13 Feb 2020 | Karwan Faidhi Dri, Rudaw
Deals between the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces and the Syrian regime have recently made headlines, especially when the SDF was attacked by Turkish forces last October. However, Mustafa Bali, spokesperson for the SDF, told Rudaw English on Thursday the Kurdish forces do not have any formal relations with Bashar al-Assad’s regime but merely “understandings” which are responses to new realities on the ground.
https://www.rudaw.net/english/interview/13022020
- Deadly clash in Syria a vivid reminder of US troops’ ill-defined mission
13 Feb 2020 | Martin Chulov, The Guardian
Since Trump abruptly ended his pact with the Kurds, the US presence in the country’s north-east has been stuck in a quagmire.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/feb/13/syria-us-troops-mission-qamishli-quagmire
- Inside the Syrian detention camps where former ISIS members remain in limbo
12 Feb 2020 | New York Post
In northeastern Syria, prisons and detention camps hold thousands of men, women and children whose lives are in limbo nearly a year after the final defeat of Islamic State to which they once belonged.
- U.S. seeks shifting to Turkey-first policy in Syria – analysis
12 Feb 2020 | Ahval News
A U.S. delegation’s visit to Ankara this week is a sign of efforts in Washington to pivot the United States back to a Turkey-first foreign policy in Syria, said analyst Seth J. Frantzman in the Jerusalem Post on Wednesday.
https://ahvalnews.com/us-turkey/us-seeks-shifting-turkey-first-policy-syria-analysis
- Ocalan in Rome: An Italian Internationalist Remembers
11 Feb 2020 | Chiara Mu, Komun Academy
On the occasion of the 21st anniversary of the arrest of Abdullah Ocalan, which happened in Nairobi, Kenya on February 15th 1999, I would love to share with you what the word “Ocalan” means to me; it is in fact a word besides being a name. I am an Italian artist who was politically active in Italy in the Nineties and I was in Rome when “Apo”, as Ocalan is called, arrived on November 12th 1998, after travelling away from Syria and looking for a country willing to host him as political refugee.
https://komun-academy.com/2020/02/11/ocalan-in-rome-an-italian-internationalist-remembers/
- Europe could soon feel the fallout from Idlib
11 Feb 2020 | David Gardner, Financial Times
The accelerating Russian-backed offensive against Idlib in north-west Syria, the last redoubt of the rebellion against Bashar al-Assad’s regime, is fast turning into the worst humanitarian catastrophe of a war now entering its ninth year.
https://www.ft.com/content/251d44dc-4cc8-11ea-95a0-43d18ec715f5
- The Iranian Left, Radical Change, And The National Question
23 Jan 2020 | Kamran Matin, Eutopia
Four decades after the 1979 revolution, the Islamic Republic of Iran is beset with a manifold crisis: a socio-economic crisis of nearly thirty years of illiberal neo-liberalisation, a legitimacy crisis due to deepening social inequality and systematic governmental corruption, and a foreign policy crisis resulting from Iran’s regional interventions and the effective demise of the nuclear deal and crippling US sanctions. With the political bankruptcy of the regime-embedded reformists, streets have increasingly become the main site for the expression of popular grievances and political discontent.
https://eutopiainstitute.org/2020/01/the-iranian-left-radical-change-and-the-national-question/
VIDEO
- Only Mountains
08 Mar 2020 | Maxine Peake, BBC
Maxine Peake’s powerful drama about a young British woman’s controversial decision to join the YPJ, an all-female Kurdish militia fighting against the Islamic State group in Syria.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000g67x
- Shadow Munich Security Conference – The Truth Emerges From the Shadow
15 Feb 2020 | Conference
A marathon evening of visions, analyses, explanations, performative contributions and discussions, simultaneously and in response to the Munich Security Conference.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsIE7pd1h7A&feature=youtu.be
Peace in Kurdistan
Campaign for a political solution of the Kurdish Question
Email: estella24@tiscali.co.uk
www.peaceinkurdistancampaign.com
Contacts Estella Schmid 020 7586 5892 & Melanie Gingell – Tel: 020 7272 7890
Fax: 020 7263 0596
Patrons: John Austin, Christine Blower, NUT International Secretary, Prof Bill Bowring, Julie Christie, Noam Chomsky, Jeremy Corbyn MP, Prof Mary Davis, Lord Dholakia, Simon Dubbins, UNITE International Director, Jill Evans MEP, Lindsey German, Convenor STWC, Melanie Gingell, Rahila Gupta, Nick Hildyard, Dafydd Iwan, Former President Plaid Cymru, James Kelman, Bruce Kent, Jean Lambert MEP, Elfyn Llwyd, Aonghas MacNeacail, Scottish Gaelic poet, Mike Mansfield QC, Doug Nicholls, General Secretary, GFTU, Dr. Jessica Ayesha Northey, International Coordinator, Green Party of England and Wales; Sinn Fein MLA Conor Murphy, Dr Thomas Jeffrey Miley, Kate Osamor MP, Margaret Owen OBE, Gareth Peirce, Maxine Peake, Lord Rea, Joe Ryan, Stephen Smellie, Steve Sweeney, Dr Tove Skutnabb-Kangas, Dr Tom Wakeford, Dr Derek Wall, Julie Ward MEP, Hywel Williams MP.