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1. Current Dynamics in Syria and the Way Forward

Author:
Khogir Wirya
Publication Date:
01-2025
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Middle East Research Institute (MERI)
Abstract:
Recent events in Syria represent a turning point in the history of the Middle East, where internal dynamics are intertwined with regional and international ones. Syria is not just a theater for local conflicts, but has become an arena for competition between major powers, which directly affects the nature of possible solutions. Within this complex landscape, the Kurdish issue stands out as one of the most sensitive and urgent priorities, with its reciprocal impact on the other components of the Syrian conflict and the country’s future.
Topic:
Political stability, Syrian War, and Kurds
Political Geography:
Middle East and Syria

2. Reconfiguration of Citizenship Beyond State Boundaries in Rojava

Author:
Atefeh Ramsari
Publication Date:
02-2024
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Statelessness & Citizenship Review
Institution:
Peter McMullin Centre on Statelessness, Melbourne Law School
Abstract:
This paper seeks to investigate different modes of practicing citizenship in two political settings. One, in which an ethno-national state sets boundaries of membership and excludes some groups accordingly. The other, a democratic confederal system where neither state nor ethnic boundaries play a role in the configuration of citizenship. This empirical study looks at the individual perceptions and experiences of membership by stateless persons living in Rojava before and after the establishment of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria. The stateless Kurds in the north of Syria, in the time of the Ba’ath government, had limited access to resources and their social life was restricted. When northern Syria (‘Rojava’) went through fundamental institution-building to implement democratic self-administration and confederalism, the conceptualisation of citizenship changed within the context of reclaiming power from the State. This is understood as a transformation from people as state objects into active actors. My discussion here focuses on how the stateless groups develop a sense of belonging, reposition the political demands and arrange social engagement horizontally. An important issue emerging from the findings is that daily membership experiences are remarkably associated with active voluntary participation in the organisation of the community. In the self-organising system, regardless of the precarious legal status the persons are holding, citizenship content and consequences in daily life are more inclusionary and egalitarian.
Topic:
Citizenship, Kurds, Belonging, Statelessness, Rojava, and Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES)
Political Geography:
Middle East and Syria

3. Erdoğan’s Syria Policy: Continuation of the Status Quo?

Author:
Sinem Adar
Publication Date:
06-2023
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
Foreign Policy Research Institute (FPRI)
Abstract:
Erdoğan’s victory was driven by rhetoric stoking further conflict with Kurdish actors in Turkey and Syria. He is unlikely to back down from this position in the future. Turkey will seek to balance its “forever war” with the PKK against desires to repatriate Syrian refugees in potential negotiations with Syria’s Bashar al-Assad.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Refugees, Syrian War, Kurds, and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan
Political Geography:
Turkey, Middle East, and Syria

4. Music as weapon: Heroic lyrical epics as tools in the PKK’s struggle

Author:
Moustafa Mohammad
Publication Date:
09-2023
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Clingendael Netherlands Institute of International Relations
Abstract:
Long-form narrative songs of the genre ‘heroic lyrical epics’ have helped preserve Kurdish history and culture. They also represent a repertoire of ideals, values and inspiration to resist injustice and exclusion. The PKK has tapped into this rich musical history from its early days and used heroic lyrical epics to spread the party’s ideology, broadcast its struggle with Turkey, facilitate recruitment and create an archive to preserve the names of its foremost fighters. Moreover, the PKK has both popularized and professionalized heroic lyrical epics. By acting as a new patron for such music – in addition to the customary notables and village ‘dîwanxane’ (meeting places) – the PKK helped make heroic lyrical epics more accessible to Kurdish publics. By creating its own modern music industry (e.g. artists, studios, re-introducing past folklore elements, publishing houses), the PKK also aligned heroic lyrical epics with the spirit of modern times and the tastes of today’s youth. Professionalization especially took flight in northeastern Syria after 2011. Logically, the PKK’s motivations are less socio-cultural in nature than that they are centered on maintaining public support in its fight against Turkey.
Topic:
Culture, Kurds, Music, and PKK
Political Geography:
Turkey, Middle East, and Syria

5. Fall 2023 edition of Contemporary Eurasia

Author:
Levon Hovsepyan
Publication Date:
07-2023
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Contemporary Eurasia
Institution:
Institute of Oriental Studies, National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia
Abstract:
CONTENTS LILIT HARUTYUNYAN THE IMPACT OF THE SYRIAN CRISIS ON LEBANON: GEOPOLITICAL ASPECT (THE BEGINNING OF THE CONFLICT) ............................................................. 5 ZHAO DONGQIAN THE EVOLUTION, ACHIEVEMENTS, AND PROSPECTS OF THE CHINESE SCHOOL OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS THEORY ................................ 15 NAZELI NAVASARDYAN, TATEVIK MANUKYAN RESUMPTION OF THE KURDISH CARD IN IRANIAN-IRAQI RELATIONS: COMPLEX INTERPLAY, PRE-REFERENDUM REALITIES ........................... 31 ARTYOM TONOYAN, LIANA PETROSYAN THE MUSAVAT AZERBAIJAN POLICY TOWARDS KURDS: PARALLELS WITH POST-SOVIET AZERBAIJAN’S ETHNIC POLICY ............................... 46 KUANG-HO YEH THE IMPLEMENTATION MECHANISM, APPLICATION, AND DEVELOPMENT PROSPECTS OF TURKEY’S DRONE STRATEGY ............ 63 INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE THE SYRIAN CRISIS AND THE KURDISH FACTOR: INTRA-KURDISH, REGIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL ASPECTS ............................................... 83
Topic:
Bilateral Relations, Minorities, Geopolitics, Drones, International Relations Theory, Syrian War, and Kurds
Political Geography:
China, Iraq, Iran, Middle East, Asia, Azerbaijan, Lebanon, and Syria

6. The Kurdish Question Dominates Turkish Policy in the Wake of the Istanbul Bombing

Author:
Aleksandra Maria Spancerska
Publication Date:
12-2022
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Polish Institute of International Affairs
Abstract:
On 13 November, a bomb exploded in Istanbul. In retaliation, Türkiye carried out air strikes against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and its affiliates in Iraq and Syria. The public’s sense of a renewed internal threat resulted in a drop in support for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Possible Turkish ground operations in northern Syria may complicate the continuing fight against ISIS.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Islamic State, Domestic Politics, Kurds, and Bombing
Political Geography:
Iraq, Turkey, Middle East, and Syria

7. Fall 2022 edition of Contemporary Eurasia

Author:
Levon Hovsepyan
Publication Date:
07-2022
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Contemporary Eurasia
Institution:
Institute of Oriental Studies, National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia
Abstract:
CONTENTS LEVON HOVSEPYAN, TATEVIK MANUKYAN TURKISH DOMESTIC DETERMINANTS AND ANKARA’S MILITARY OPERATIONS IN SYRIA: KURDISH THREAT AND EXPANSIONIST AMBITIONS.......................................................................................................... 5 NELLI MINASYAN TURKISH INITIATIVES IN THE DIRECTION OF TURKIC INTEGRATION: PREREQUISITES AND TENDENCIES............................................................. 22 ARAKS PASHAYAN, NAZELI NAVASARDYAN SOCIO-POLITICAL PERCEPTION OF SHĪʿA ISLAM IN AZERBAIJAN: THE INFLUENCE OF EXTERNAL FACTORS ................................................ 40 GUIHUA NI TECHNOLOGY DIFFUSION AND POWER TRANSITION: THE CASE OF THE SEMICONDUCTOR INDUSTRY IN EAST ASIA ................................... 55 ARAM GASPARYAN THE “CIVIL CONCORD”: ATTEMPT FOR PEACE IN ALGERIA ................ 76
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Islam, Science and Technology, Syrian War, Kurds, Integration, Regional Power, Semiconductors, and Shiism
Political Geography:
Central Asia, Turkey, Middle East, East Asia, Algeria, Azerbaijan, and Syria

8. Seasoned Skeptics Why Syrian Kurds Have Resisted Political Islam

Author:
Sirwan Kajjo and Oula A. Alrifai
Publication Date:
12-2021
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
Abstract:
The historic role of Sufism, an inclination toward the secular left, and recent repression under extremists have all driven the Kurds away from religiously informed ideology. For much of their history, the Kurdish people have tended to separate their political projects from Islam. This rule applies especially in northern Syria today, where Kurds govern an autonomous region locally referred to as Rojava. Over the past several years, the Democratic Union Party (PYD) has established a governing system that promotes a tolerant form of Islam and coexistence among the many religious groups in the region. The project has not been without its difficulties, including PYD tensions with the competing Kurdish National Council, but it could ultimately serve as a model of tolerance in a region beset by extremism. In this illuminating Policy Note, Sirwan Kajjo and Oula Alrifai explain how Sufi orders, Marxist discourse, jihadist repression, and other factors inform the historic Kurdish resistance to political Islam. The authors contend that only strong U.S. support can uphold the Rojava project and others like it, whatever challenges this might present from the standpoint of domestic politics.
Topic:
Reform, Democracy, Kurds, and Political Islam
Political Geography:
Middle East and Syria

9. The Making of the Kurdish Frontier: Power, Conflict, and Governance in the Iraqi-Syrian Borderlands

Author:
Harith Hasan and Kheder Khaddour
Publication Date:
03-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Abstract:
The Iraqi-Syrian border continues to be geopolitically restless. Kurdish parties have taken advantage of central government weaknesses to increase their autonomy in these areas. Even after the collapse of the self-proclaimed Islamic State, the Iraqi-Syrian border continues to be one of the most geopolitically restless areas in the Middle East. In the last few years, a variety of Kurdish entities and groups have increasingly shaped the dynamics across the northern section of this border. In particular, there are two dynamics that deserve attention. First, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and the Kurdish-dominated Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria have come to effectively control new border crossings in this area as the Syrian government has lost access and the Iraqi government’s presence has been contested. This means that the movement of people and goods in this area is largely controlled by two entities that are neither state nor nonstate actors. The reality on the ground reflects hybrid arrangements that have emerged as a result of the weaknesses of both central governments and the increasing autonomy gained by Kurdish parties (which, in the case of the KRG, is stipulated constitutionally). Second, the Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK), by virtue of its participation in the war against the Islamic State and by taking advantage of the consequent power vacuum, managed to augment its influence along the border. Its ideological and organizational ties with local groups, such as the People Protection Units (YPG) in Syria and Sinjar Resistance Units (YBS) in Iraq, enabled it to exert security and political influence. On the one hand, this turned segments of the border into an arena for transnational, pan-Kurdish militancy. On the other hand, these groups’ presence intensified intra-Kurdish rivalries, especially between the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), which is the KRG’s main ruling party, and the PKK. This rivalry reflects a clash of two visions for the border: the PKK’s revolutionary, transnational vision that seeks to eradicate or at least underplay the reality of the border; and the KDP’s pragmatic and territorial vision seeking to assert the border’s reality as a demarcation of the KRG’s authority and future statehood. In addition, the KDP is allied with Turkey, which has been fighting the PKK for several decades and is currently waging a military campaign against the group in northern Iraq and Syria. To a large extent, the future of this border is predicated on this geopolitical conflict and whether the PKK manages to entrench itself further or becomes isolated and marginalized as the KRG, the Autonomous Administration, and the Iraqi federal government assert their territorial authorities.
Topic:
Governance, Conflict, Borders, and Kurds
Political Geography:
Iraq, Middle East, and Syria

10. Waiting for blowback: The Kurdish question and Turkey’s new regional militarism

Author:
Engin Yüksel
Publication Date:
09-2020
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Clingendael Netherlands Institute of International Relations
Abstract:
Recent Turkish interventions in parts of Syria, Iraq and Turkey itself, look like pushing various Kurdish armed forces and political groupings towards ‘defeat’ via a concerted regional strategy that combines battlefield action with repression and co-optation. But the ‘anti-terrorist’ frame and tactics that Ankara uses in a bid to solve its Kurdish problem feature many sticks and no compromises to improve Kurdish collective minority rights. It is likely that this approach will inhibit peaceful resistance and fail to reduce support for armed groups like the PKK and PYD despite their own authoritarian practices. Moreover, Turkey’s new regional militarism risks escalating conflict across the Middle East because of the complex international and transnational contexts in which Ankara’s interventions take place.
Topic:
International Affairs, Non State Actors, Conflict, and Kurds
Political Geography:
Iraq, Turkey, Middle East, and Syria