Drums pound along the Aegean coast. In a natural amphitheater only miles from the ruins of ancient Ephesus the air is split by wailing horns and the raucous cheers of 10,000 spectators drunk on raki and the brute intoxication of camel wrestling.
Today, Iraqi and Syrian Kurds enjoy unprecedented autonomy from Baghdad and Damascus, and the prospects of an independent Kurdish state are real. Despite the Kurds’ gains, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), led by President Massoud Barzani, finds its semi-autonomous state in northern Iraq at several geopolitical fault lines. Barzani must tread carefully in this volatile region to safeguard the Iraqi Kurds’ interests while pursuing independence from central Iraq.
In 2008, Seyed Hasan, a father of 6, fled his home in the Wardak province of eastern Afghanistan. Hasan’s family applied for refugee status in Turkey, but their initial claim was rejected. Over four years later, the family was finally granted refugee status. But their situation did not improve.
In his first term, President Barack Obama’s vision for the Middle East failed to materialize. If he wants to make a lasting mark during his second term, he must ensure that U.S. policy in the region is no longer dictated by energy sources, friendly dictators, and Israel.
Two years ago, Turkey was on its way to being a player in Central Asia, a major power broker in the Middle East, and a driving force in international politics. Now it’s at war with one of its neighbors, at odds with regional powers, and plagued by internal insurgency. What happened?
Locals say there are two types of camps for Syrians in Southeast Turkey—those for the refugees and those for the so-called opposition fighters. My Turkish colleagues and I drove to both kinds of camps, each located near the ancient polyglot province of Hatay, a small sliver of land squeezed between Syria and the deep blue Mediterranean Sea. We also drove to several border crossings to gain a clearer understanding of the situation in this restive area.
“Blood and destruction,” “dreadful objects,” and “pity choked” was the Bard’s searing characterization of what war visits upon the living. It is a description that increasingly parallels the ongoing war in Syria, which is likely to worsen unless the protagonists step back and search for a diplomatic solution to the 17-month-old civil war.
Although the prospects for an independent state in Syrian Kurdistan remain dim, unprecedented Kurdish autonomy will likely result from the conflict. The implications extend beyond Syria’s borders as various governments and non-state actors have strong, and often conflicting, interests in the political fate of Syria’s Kurds and the territorial integrity of the Syrian state.
Turkey has become one of Bashar Al-Assad’s main enemies since Erdogan turned on his old friend in response to the Syrian regime’s brutal crackdown on the opposition. But the sectarian character of Syria’s civil war has created tensions within Turkey that complicate the triangular relationship among Ankara, Damascus, and the armed Syrian opposition.
As the post-9-11 wars finally begin to end, we can shrink the Pentagon budget. Here is a three-part strategy for replacing the jobs currently dependent on military production we don’t need.