Turkey is now alone, thanks to its erratic alliances

by Ahmed E. Souaiaia* This map, produced by pro-gov. Syrian group, hints to Syria’s claim over most of Hatay province, could explain the strategy for dealing with Idlib. There are historical and political reasons for Turkey’s determination to prevent the formation of an autonomous Kurdish region in Northern Syria. However, Turkey’s government might be nervous Read more

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“No Place for Assad” is not a Plan

Syrian troops who took part in Deir Ezzor battle against ISIL The so-called Syrian opposition and their Arab and Western governments’ backers are responsible for the failure in realizing a political transition towards broader representative governance. Now that even the strongest armed militant groups are facing defeat, the possibility of seeing these various opposition groups Read more

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Could the Cessation of Hostilities help U.S. and Russia overcome their differences on Syria?

by Ahmed E. Souaiaia*   ISIL fighters It is evident at this point that Syria’s war is not a civil war. It is a world war and now the two superpowers, the U.S. and Russia emerged out of the shadows of their regional allies to take charge. Early this year, the two countries reached an Read more

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Kurds One Hundred Years after Sykes-Picot

by Mohammad Ali Dastmali* About one hundred years have passed since the conclusion of the Sykes-Picot Agreement and now neither Sykes is alive nor Picot. Britain’s Sir Mark Sykes and France’s François Georges-Picot started a saga through conclusion of a short and apparently simple agreement, which later on affected the lives of many peoples and Read more

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Why is AKP – led Turkish government punishing Kurds and leftists for ISIL suicide crimes?

by Ahmed E. Souaiaia* When ISIL suicide bombers killed more than 32 people at a cultural center in Suruç, near Kobani, the AKP led government unleashed waves of airstrikes against PKK fighters in southern Turkey and northern Iraq, instead of launching punishing trikes against ISIL. When two suicide bombers targeted a peace coalition activists, mostly Read more

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Recep Tayyip Erdoğan ought to be tried for crimes against humanity

by Ahmed E. Souaiaia*   ISIL attacks Kobane Earlier this month, Vice President Joe Bidenangered some Middle Eastern leaders by making a true statement. Speaking at Harvard, Biden said that the U.S. allies were determined to overthrow Bashar al-Assad from power so they “poured hundreds of millions dollars, and tens thousands of tons of weapons Read more

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Syria’s Kurds, hopes and fears: The civil war in Syria has put great strains on the country’s Kurdish population. The Syrian Kurds’ most powerful politician, Saleh Muslim Mohammad, talks to Vicken Cheterian about their position and future

by Vicken Cheterian* Saleh Muslim Mohammad is the head of the Partiya Yekitiya Demokrat (Democratic Union Party / PYD) and the most powerful politician among the Syrian Kurds. The party – founded in 2003, and closely linked to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has waged a longstanding armed campaign in the Kurdish-majority regions of Read more

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Mass slaughter of civilian Kurds in Syria ignites heavy clashes and mass exodus

by Rozh Ahmad*   Kurdish civilians escaping for their lives in Syria The al-Qaeda linked “Jabhat al-Nusra” (al-Nusra Front) in Syria, has been held responsible for having instigated a sectarian racist war against civilian Kurds in Syria’s northern Kurdish region, the outcomes of which recently led to the massacre of hundreds of Kurdish women and Read more

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