Posted on Wed, February 11, 2015 at 19:08 pm CET
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Kobani: A Symbol of Kurdish Resistance

After nearly five months of fighting for Kobani, the Kurds recaptured the town on January 26… Continue reading

Topics: Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center • Islamic State • Jihadism • Kurdish People • Syria • Syrian Kurdistan • Syrian Revolution • Turkey 
Posted on Sat, January 24, 2015 at 19:56 pm CET
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ISIS’s Financial and Military Capabilities

ISIS’s capabilities: the number of its operatives, control system, military strength, leadership, allies and financial capabilities… Continue reading

Topics: Economy • Energy • Global Islam • Global Jihad • Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center • Iraq • Iraqi Kurdistan • Islamic State • Islamic Terrorism • Syria • Syrian Kurdistan 
Posted on Wed, April 3, 2013 at 12:08 pm CEST
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The Arab-Kurdish Battle in Syria: Implications for Turkey’s Standing

The battle over the Syrian town Ras al-Ain on the border to Turkey damaged Turkish relations with the Kurds in Syria, and with parts of Syrian opposition… Continue reading

Topics: Kurdish People • Syrian Kurdistan • Syrian Revolution • Turkey 
Posted on Fri, February 1, 2013 at 21:00 pm CET
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Turkish-Kurdistan Energy Relations: An Assessment

Much is made of the grand strategy of the Turkish-Kurdish energy puzzle… Continue reading

Topics: Energy • Iraq • Iraqi Kurdistan • Kurdish People • Turkey 
Posted on Sun, January 27, 2013 at 20:03 pm CET
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The AKP’s New Dialogue with Öcalan: A Process but Which Process?

The AKP is conducting a “psychological war” rather than sincerely trying to solve the Kurdish Issue… Continue reading

Topics: Iraqi Kurdistan • Kurdish People • PKK • Syrian Kurdistan • Turkey • Turkish Kurdistan 
Posted on Thu, December 20, 2012 at 20:55 pm CET
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Fighting Blind: The AKP’s Increasingly Hardline Kurdish Policy

Even if the Turkish military wins every battle against the PKK, an even more dangerous war is being lost… Continue reading

Topics: Kurdish People • PKK • Security and Defense • Syrian Kurdistan • Turkey • Turkish Kurdistan 
Posted on Thu, December 13, 2012 at 21:19 pm CET
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Who Will Rule Syria? A Detailed Assessment

The civil war in Syria is moving into the end-game… Continue reading

Topics: Alawis • Muslim Brotherhood • Politics • Syrian Kurdistan • Syrian Revolution • U.S. Middle East Policy 
Posted on Sat, October 27, 2012 at 16:24 pm CEST
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What Does Turkey Hope to Achieve with Its War Threats Against Syria?

The Turkish government appears to hope to deter the continued Syrian – and Iranian – deployment of the Kurdish card against Turkey… Continue reading

Topics: Kurdish People • Security and Defense • Syrian Kurdistan • Syrian Revolution • Turkey • Turkish Kurdistan 
Posted on Tue, July 17, 2012 at 19:05 pm CEST
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Will the Rebels Win Syria’s Civil War and What That Means

The tide seems to be turning in Syria… Continue reading

Topics: Alawis • Security and Defense • Syrian Kurdistan • Syrian Revolution • U.S. Middle East Policy 
Posted on Sat, July 7, 2012 at 21:00 pm CEST
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“And What Do You Want to Say to the Iraqi People?”

I’ve been interviewed a number of times, for example, by Iraqi journalists. But this time there was a different kind of question at the end of the interview… Continue reading

Topics: Iraq • Iraqi Kurdistan • Shia Islam • Sunni Islam • The Media • The Middle East 
Posted on Tue, July 3, 2012 at 21:36 pm CEST
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Assessing Iraq’s Oil Industry

This article provides an overview of Iraq’s oil and gas industry, focusing in particular on its history since 2003 under the Coalition Provisional Authority and the sovereign Iraqi government… Continue reading

Topics: China • Economy • Energy • Iraq • Iraqi Kurdistan • Kurdistan • OPEC • U.S. Middle East Policy 
Posted on Fri, May 18, 2012 at 17:11 pm CEST
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Turkey-Iraq Relations: From Bad to Worse

Relations between the governments of Iraq and Turkey continue to deteriorate… Continue reading

Topics: Diplomacy • Iraq • Iraqi Kurdistan • Neo-Ottomanism • Politics • Shia Islam • Sunni Islam • Turkey 
Posted on Thu, May 17, 2012 at 19:08 pm CEST
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Two Obama Administration Scandals on Syria?

When a delegation of Syrian Kurdish rebels recently visited Washington DC, the State Department met them to ask for a favor. What was it?… Continue reading

Topics: Islamism • Security and Defense • Syrian Kurdistan • Syrian Revolution • U.S. Middle East Policy 
Posted on Thu, May 10, 2012 at 21:12 pm CEST
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Values and Identity: The Resurgence of the Kurdish Hizbullah

Hundreds of thousands of people gathered in the center of Diyarbakır for a celebration of the Prophet Muhammad’s birth. The event was organized by a coalition of NGOs affiliated with the radical Sunni Islamist organization known in Turkey as Hizbullah… Continue reading

Topics: Islamic Fundamentalism • Kurdish People • PKK • Security and Defense • Sunni Islam • Turkey • Turkish Kurdistan 
Posted on Sun, April 8, 2012 at 11:48 am CEST
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Reinventing a Broken Wheel: The AKP’s ‘New’ Kurdish Strategy

On 21 March 2012, Turkish government officials began briefing trusted journalists on what they described as the new strategy of the ruling AKP for solving the country’s long-running Kurdish problem… Continue reading

Topics: History • Kurdish People • Kurdistan • PKK • Security and Defense • Turkey 
Posted on Thu, December 22, 2011 at 19:55 pm CET
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Has Erdogan Reached His “Democratic Limits”?

Internal and external dynamics no longer compel Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to transcend his democratic limits… Continue reading

Topics: Islamism • Kurdish People • Politics • Sunni Islam • Turkey • Turkish Kurdistan 
Posted on Sat, November 19, 2011 at 00:18 am CET
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Syria, Turkey and the Kurds

Bashar al-Assad is apparently aiming to destabilize Turkey… Continue reading

Topics: Iraqi Kurdistan • Kurdish People • PKK • Syrian Kurdistan • Syrian Revolution • Turkey • Turkish Kurdistan 
Posted on Fri, November 11, 2011 at 23:23 pm CET
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The Latest KCK Arrests: One Step Closer to Breaking Point

The AKP is using the KCK investigation as an instrument to try to crush all opposition to its increasingly hawkish policies on the Kurdish issue… Continue reading

Topics: Kurdish People • PKK • Turkey • Turkish Kurdistan 
Posted on Fri, November 4, 2011 at 00:27 am CET
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Turkey’s Anti-PKK Operation Faces Major Obstacles

The Turkish government has now responded with one of its largest counterinsurgency operations in years… Continue reading

Topics: Counter-terrorism • Kurdish People • PKK • Security and Defense • Turkey • Turkish Kurdistan 
Posted on Sun, September 4, 2011 at 20:07 pm CEST
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Erdogan’s War: Will Turkey’s Most Powerful Leader Since Ataturk Succeed in Securing the Country’s Unity?

Attacks carried out by Kurdish separatists since mid-July have set Turkey on the road to war… Continue reading

Topics: Kurdish People • Neo-Ottomanism • PKK • Turkey • Turkish Kurdistan 
Posted on Thu, August 25, 2011 at 23:46 pm CEST
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Egyptians in Terror Attack? Warning from Egypt to Israel? Where is U.S. Leadership? Playing Golf

To begin with, President Obama’s supporters are praising him for having overthrown Libyan dictator Muammar al-Qadhafi… Continue reading

Topics: Egypt • Libya War • Palestinian Terrorism • Syrian Kurdistan • U.S. Middle East Policy 
Posted on Sat, August 20, 2011 at 20:23 pm CEST
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Turkey and Syria: a Parting of Ways

The turmoil in Syria threatens to deprive Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party of one of its most significant foreign policy achievements… Continue reading

Topics: Arab Spring • Economy • Iran • Kurdish People • PKK • Security and Defense • Syria • Syrian Kurdistan • Turkey • Turkish Kurdistan 
Posted on Fri, August 12, 2011 at 18:21 pm CEST
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Spring comes, but not for Iraq’s Kurds

Amid widespread protests during this so-called “Arab Spring,” one place that has received relatively little media coverage is Iraqi Kurdistan… Continue reading

Topics: Arab Spring • Democracy • Iraq • Iraqi Kurdistan • Kurdish People • Kurdistan