« War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength ». George Orwell, 1984. In the ’80’s and ’90’s, Kurdish society was extremely feudal and patriarchal. It was maintained in a severe state of under-development, which pressured the Kurds to rise up against the military dictatorships which succeeded one another in Ankara [1]. The Kurdistan Workers’…
For decades, Israel has had significant links to Kurdish groups throughout the Middle East. Long before President Erdogan led what in many ways amounts to a counter-revolution in Turkish politics, Israel’s support of Kurdish separatist movements throughout the region, was often a sore point between Ankara and Tel Aviv, who apart from this issue, tended…
Something rather unprecedented just happened in Syria: US backed “good terrorist” forces attempted a surprise attack against Syrian government forces stationed to the north and northeast of the city of Hama. What makes this attack unique is that it took place inside a so-called “de-escalation zone” and that it appears that one of the key…
With Pro-Assad forces liberating Deir-Ezzor the real war in Syria begins as the full-extent of the U.S.’s ‘Plan B’ is revealed. How Russia responds to this will determine the future of the region. Thanks to the Syrian Army’s breaking of the three-year long siege of Deir-Ezzor the war for Syria’s future is back on the…
The lifting of the siege of Deir ez-Zor by Islamic State (IS) militants quite rightly raised hopes that the civil war in Syria would soon be coming to an end. As soon as it became clear how the battles for the city were going to end, however, Kurdish forces from the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF),…
The race between legitimate Syrian government forces and the US-backed SDF umbrella group to control the oil rich Deir ez-Zor province has intensified following the lifting of the blockade by Syrian troops last week and risks turning into direct confrontation. Last Tuesday, the Syrian military backed by the Russian air force finally broke the IS…
