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A tough choice to make
Global Village Space |
News Analysis |
The recent conflict in the Middle East has created a real possibility for the creation of an independent Kurdish state. Kurds are seen favorably by many western nations as an effective fighting force against Islamic State. The US have provided unprecedented military and financial support to Kurds which has made them a force to be reckoned with.
This has resulted in rising tensions between Turkey and the United States. Turkey has been locked in an internal armed conflict with Kurdish PKK and views armed Kurdish militias in northern Syria an extension of this belligerent group. The civil war in Syria has resulted in the creation of a de-facto Kurdish enclave in ITS northern part which indirectly has provided strategic depth to PKK.
The United States is now seeking to balance its relationship with Turkey and the Kurds. This balancing act has deteriorated relations between Ankara and Washington.
Who are the Kurds?
Read more: The three-way tug of war in Syria: Who are the important players?
Between 25 and 35 million Kurds inhabit a mountainous region straddling the borders of Turkey, Iraq, Syria, Iran and Armenia. They make up the fourth-largest ethnic group in the Middle East, but they have never obtained a permanent nation-state.
In recent decades, Kurds have increasingly influenced regional developments, fighting for autonomy in Turkey and playing prominent roles in the conflicts in Iraq and Syria, where they have resisted the advance of the so-called Islamic State (IS) jihadist group.
In the early 20th Century, many Kurds began to consider the creation of a homeland – generally referred to as “Kurdistan”. After World War One and the defeat of the Ottoman Empire, the victorious Western allies made provision for a Kurdish state in the 1920 Treaty of Sevres.
Such hopes were dashed three years later, however, when the Treaty of Lausanne, which set the boundaries of modern Turkey, made no provision for a Kurdish state and left Kurds with minority status in their respective countries. Over the next 80 years, any move by Kurds to set up an independent state was brutally quashed.
Read more: Gulf crisis and the future of Middle East
How Islamic State turned Kurds against themselves?
It launched repeated attacks that until mid-2014 were repelled by the Popular Protection Units (YPG) – the armed wing of the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Unity Party (PYD).
In mid-2013, IS turned its sights on three Kurdish enclaves that bordered its territory in northern Syria. It launched repeated attacks that until mid-2014 were repelled by the Popular Protection Units (YPG) – the armed wing of the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Unity Party (PYD). The turning point was an offensive in Iraq in June 2014 that saw IS overrun the northern city of Mosul, routing Iraqi army divisions and seizing weaponry and later moving to Syria.
Read full article:
A tough choice to make
Global Village Space |
News Analysis |
The recent conflict in the Middle East has created a real possibility for the creation of an independent Kurdish state. Kurds are seen favorably by many western nations as an effective fighting force against Islamic State. The US have provided unprecedented military and financial support to Kurds which has made them a force to be reckoned with.
This has resulted in rising tensions between Turkey and the United States. Turkey has been locked in an internal armed conflict with Kurdish PKK and views armed Kurdish militias in northern Syria an extension of this belligerent group. The civil war in Syria has resulted in the creation of a de-facto Kurdish enclave in ITS northern part which indirectly has provided strategic depth to PKK.
The United States is now seeking to balance its relationship with Turkey and the Kurds. This balancing act has deteriorated relations between Ankara and Washington.
Who are the Kurds?
Read more: The three-way tug of war in Syria: Who are the important players?
Between 25 and 35 million Kurds inhabit a mountainous region straddling the borders of Turkey, Iraq, Syria, Iran and Armenia. They make up the fourth-largest ethnic group in the Middle East, but they have never obtained a permanent nation-state.
In recent decades, Kurds have increasingly influenced regional developments, fighting for autonomy in Turkey and playing prominent roles in the conflicts in Iraq and Syria, where they have resisted the advance of the so-called Islamic State (IS) jihadist group.
In the early 20th Century, many Kurds began to consider the creation of a homeland – generally referred to as “Kurdistan”. After World War One and the defeat of the Ottoman Empire, the victorious Western allies made provision for a Kurdish state in the 1920 Treaty of Sevres.
Such hopes were dashed three years later, however, when the Treaty of Lausanne, which set the boundaries of modern Turkey, made no provision for a Kurdish state and left Kurds with minority status in their respective countries. Over the next 80 years, any move by Kurds to set up an independent state was brutally quashed.
Read more: Gulf crisis and the future of Middle East
How Islamic State turned Kurds against themselves?
It launched repeated attacks that until mid-2014 were repelled by the Popular Protection Units (YPG) – the armed wing of the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Unity Party (PYD).
In mid-2013, IS turned its sights on three Kurdish enclaves that bordered its territory in northern Syria. It launched repeated attacks that until mid-2014 were repelled by the Popular Protection Units (YPG) – the armed wing of the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Unity Party (PYD). The turning point was an offensive in Iraq in June 2014 that saw IS overrun the northern city of Mosul, routing Iraqi army divisions and seizing weaponry and later moving to Syria.
Read full article:
A tough choice to make
