Turkey

By Ramazan Kılınç | – Vowing to better protect Christians, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan told media at the White House recently that Turkey will restore churches damaged during the civil war in northeastern Syria. With this statement, Erdoğan might have hoped to send signals addressing western concerns about the vulnerabilities of Christians in his […]

Donald Trump

Top 4 Reasons Turkish Pres. Erdogan got a Tense Reception in DC, Despite Trump’s Warmth

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Trump warmly hosted Turkish president Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday, praising him to the skies, despite Congressional deep frustration with Turkey Four big issues have introduced a severe strain into the US-Turkey relationship, though Trump for some reason treats Erdogan as teflon, just as he does Vladimir Putin. 1. Turkey’s invasion […]

Donald Trump

Trump’s Debacle in the Desert: A Post Mortem on the Kurdish-American Military Alliance (1941-2019)

Brian Glyn Williams

(Informed Comment) – An “After-Action” Report on the Kurds’ Vital Role in The Defeat of ISIS and Death of “God’s Shadow on Earth”: On October 26th US Delta Forces, acting on intelligence provided to them by their trusted Kurdish allies, launched a dangerous, long-distance heliborne raid from Iraq, across a region in northern Syria that […]

Displaced and Refugees

Syrian Kurds charge Turkey with Ethnic Cleansing as US Military frets it will be “blind” without Kurdish Help

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The semi-autonomous Kurdish region of northeast Syria today accused Turkish forces of conducting ethnic cleansing campaigns in the Kurdish region they have occupied between Tel Abyad and Ra’s al-Ayn. The communique said, “and after more than 300,000 civilians fled from its cities and villages and hamlets and houses and hospitals […]

Featured

Did US Officials Manipulate Trump into Sending Back Troops from Iraq to Syria “for the oil”?

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) | – NBC reports that a US convoy of light armored vehicles carrying special operations forces has been sighted heading from Iraq into northeast Syria and then south to the oil-rich Deir al-Zor province, with attack helicopters hovering above. You have to wonder if the Kurds pelted them with rotten vegetables […]

Displaced and Refugees

Erdogan’s Plan to Resettle Arabs in Syrian Kurdish Zone is dangerous and expensive

Middle East Monitor

By Stasa Salacanin | – Although the Turkish offensive in north-east Syria has ceased for five days, concerns are mounting over the humanitarian impact of the operation to push Kurdish-led forces, which Turkey regards as terrorists, out of the area. Ankara’s plan to resettle millions of refugees into the area and its president’s threat to […]

Displaced and Refugees

No, Erdogan can’t send most of Turkey’s 3.7 mn Syrian Refugees into Kurdish Regions

The Conversation

By Shelley Inglis | – Turkey’s recent military incursion into northern Syria is aimed at weakening Syrian Kurdish forces along its border. Turkey believes those forces are linked to the insurgent Kurdish militia inside Turkey, whom Turkey and the U.S. have labeled terrorists. But that’s not the only goal. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s long-term […]

nuclear weapons

Given tensions with Erdogan, is it really Wise for the U.S. to Keep 50 Nuclear Bombs in Turkey?

The Conversation

By Miles A. Pomper | – As the Syrian crisis pits Turkish troops against former U.S.-allied Kurdish forces, Pentagon officials have been reviewing plans to remove 50 nuclear bombs stored at a U.S air base in Turkey. A congressional directive to the Pentagon to quickly assess alternative homes for U.S. “personnel and assets” currently stationed […]

Donald Trump

Unlike Trump, Putin faces down Turkey on Plans for Massive Syria Incursion

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – With Trump and his special operations troops out of Syria, it fell to Russia to deal with Turkey’s invasion of northern Syria to push back from its border the leftist Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG). Trump has not only become irrelevant, but the troops formerly stationed in Syria now seem […]