Turkey’s rulers sound like the country is on the verge of a formal declaration of war against the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG).
I spent the last two weeks mostly in London and then in Vienna for two days. My latest journey only confirmed my resolve to live in my country, good or bad
The Qatar crisis is no surprise for those who follow the Middle East closely and know enough about this small country’s curious rise as a regional player.
Turkey is furious about the United States’ decision to arm Kurdish forces in Syria, and rightly so. So far, both the Turkish government’s Syrian and Kurdish policies have been, and still are, full of mistakes and miscalculations.
Another disastrous project with the name “peace” is on its way, with U.S. President Donald Trump’s recent consequent visits to Saudi Arabia and Israel revealing the pillars of this new policy. The new administration is appealing to the U.S.’s so-called old Sunni allies in search of a rehabilitation of Muslims’ relations with Israel, and the interests and willingness seem mutual.
I am sure President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is very sincere about his policy to build the “New Turkey” as a “better alternative to the old republic,” as he is an idealist, after all.
The U.S. decision to arm the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) has dealt a huge blow to the Turkish government’s position.
One does not need to be concerned just with the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the new system that it imposed with last month’s referendum to be hopeless about Turkey’s democratic prospects, as one look at the politics in opposition circles also provides reason for worry.
It is not only the fact that we live in oppressive political circumstances, that freedoms are immensely curbed, and that submission is becoming the only option. Worse, we are now supposed to live under the terror of ambivalence
