Tag Archives: YPG

Resistance against Turkish Forces in Raqqa

Last week, three Turkish soldiers and up to five members of the Turkey-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) were killed in bombings in Syria. They were patrolling in Raqqa province when they attempted to search two cars and their occupants. Continue reading

Turkish ‘Forced Medicine’ for Europe’s ISIS Problem

Hundreds of fighters flocked from all over the world to join Islamic State (ISIS), lured by the promise of a utopian society. But now they find themselves in squalid jails and refugee camps while the world worries about what to do with them. Continue reading

Turkey’s Syria Operation Comes at the Cost of Global Goodwill

Turkey’s military incursion into northeastern Syria was never going to be popular. It aims to address a problem that only Turkey experiences and which, it seems, concerns only Turkey. Continue reading

Syria’s Civil War Proves Transformative for Turkey

Syria’s civil war has proven a transformative experience for Turkey. The violence of Syria’s war pushed millions into neighbouring countries, of which Turkey was one; but Turkey felt extra pressure and opportunity as a gateway to Europe. Continue reading

The Toll of American Indifference in Syria

Last month, while he was preparing to attend the United Nations general assembly, the American secretary of state Mike Pompeo, made a statement of seriousness but not of significance. Continue reading

What Turkey’s ‘Operation Peace Spring’ Means for Syria – and the US

On Sunday, the White House announced that ‘Turkey will soon be moving forward with its long-planned operation into northern Syria’ and that American forces, though they would not support this advance, would move out of the way to allow it to take place. Continue reading

Turkey Remains Irresolute on Syria

The Syrian conflict appears on Turkey’s border but beyond Turkish containment and entirely out of Turkish control. Continue reading

Isis Is in Retreat, but Challenges Remain in Eastern Syria

The Islamic State (ISIS) no longer holds sway over great stretches of Iraq and Syria, but its capacity for violence remains. Fighting continues around ISIS’s base at Hajin, in Syria’s eastern desert near the Iraqi border. Continue reading

America’s New Plan for Syria Promises Little Change

For years, the United States and its leaders articulated a sense of what Syria ought to look like without a plan for making it so. Continue reading

The Rojava Reconquista

With the fall of Daraa and the end of rebel rule in Syria’s southwest, observers are beginning to talk more definitely about the conclusion of the country’s civil war. Advocates of the regime of Bashar al-Assad have claimed the conflict was close to ending consistently.

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