France’s recent flurry of diplomacy in Damascus, Baghdad and Erbil has prompted commentary suggesting a potential move toward the country’s “lasting presence” in Syria. On February 5, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot visited Damascus, Baghdad and Erbil in a day. Especially Barrot’s meetings with Kurdistan Regional Government President Nechirvan Barzani and PKK/YPG leader Mazlum Abdi were interpreted as France exploring ...
After several preliminary attempts and armed clashes, the Syrian central government and the Syrian Democratic Forces reached an agreement on January 30, which has so far been honored. Syria experienced a flurry of agreements, cancellations, and military attacks in January, culminating in the January 30th agreement between the Syrian government and the Syrian Democratic Forces. The pact focuses on consolidating ...
UWI writer and political scientist Onur Sinan Güzaltan discussed the meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Syrian counterpart Ahmed al-Sharaa in Moscow on January 28, as well as the US-Russia-Ukraine talks, on Ulusal Kanal Television. The interview, conducted in Turkish, has been translated into English by UWI. What does al-Sharaa’s visit to Russia mean at a time when ...
By Adem Kılıç, Political Scientist The global arena is facing the reality that the liberal order, which has dominated for decades and was established after the Second World War, has collapsed, and that the Western countries that owned this order, primarily the United States, can no longer control the crises. While the US struggles to maintain its global leadership capacity, ...
Last week’s agenda in Türkiye was busy, as usual. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan delivered a speech assessing rising global tensions and Türkiye’s position in it. Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan issued a pointed warning over developments in Iran. And the official minutes from a meeting between jailed PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan and MP were released. Erdoğan: Türkiye is one of the ...
On January 15, the Syrian army first launched a major operation in the west of the Euphrates River, forcing the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to withdraw to the east of the River. The Syrian army then took control of Deir ez-Zor, the region home to Syria’s largest oil and natural gas fields, and Raqqa, a city that ISIS had once ...
The map in Syria has changed. The PKK/SDF, backed by the US for decades, has been forced to pull out of key strategic positions it has been controlling in northern Syria following a military operation launched by the Damascus government. Control over oil fields, border areas, and fertile agricultural land has now shifted to Damascus. So what happened? Why did ...
Syria experienced days of intense fighting that ended on Tuesday with a preliminary agreement, which could determine the country’s administrative future. It all began in two neighborhoods of the city of Aleppo. After the evacuation of the civilian population and clashes, the armed groups belonging to the Syrian Democratic Forces had to retreat east of the Euphrates River. For Ünal ...
Last week in Türkiye, developments in Syria topped the political agenda. Operations launched by the Syrian government against the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which Ankara designates as a terrorist organization, were met with a positive response in the Turkish capital. Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan’s remarks on the US, emphasizing alliance relations, was another major topic. Developments in Iran also featured ...
By Adem Kılıç, Political scientist Those clinging to the wings of US aircraft at Kabul Airport in Afghanistan, trying to ‘escape’, were not only a symbol of defeat, but also of the price of misplaced alliances. And today, the same scene has been re-enacted in Syria, specifically in Aleppo. The only thing that changed was the geography and the fact ...
Last week, at the top of Türkiye’s agenda was large-scale operations against ISIS and an armed clash that broke out during an operation in the district of Yalova. Another important item in the agenda was statements by Feti Yıldız, Deputy Chair of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), regarding developments in Syria. The expanding investigations into drug trafficking and illegal betting ...
By Adem Kılıç, Political Scientist The spectacle staged by Trump in Egypt approximately two months ago and presented as the ‘peace of the century’ propaganda never made a realistic contribution to Israel’s military objectives in Gaza. Furthermore, despite the terms of the agreement, the people of Gaza have continued to be deprived of humanitarian aid over the past two months, ...