by Robert Olson Several times during the last week of April, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan claimed that the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK)— and its political arm, the Union of Kurdistan Communities (KCK)—had been defeated and that the state was winning.… Continue Reading
by Robert Olson Turkey is in a strong position to achieve its geopolitical objectives in the both Syria and Iraq. In Iraq, for instance, Turkey’s objective after the U.S. invasion in 2003 was to ensure that the Kurdistan Region Government… Continue Reading
by Robert Olson The title of Mahmut Bozarslan’s recent article in Al- Monitor, is “How Turkey Seeks to Kill Two Birds with One Stone in Diyarbakir.” It describes the policies Turkey is pursuing in southeast Turkey to pacify the populace… Continue Reading
by Robert Olson On March 29, Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu caused quite a stir during a visit to Jordan where he stated, “Turkey’s security zone starts from Latakia and passes through Aleppo, Mosul and Sulaimani (Sulaymaniya).” This confirmed that Turkey intends to expand its regional geopolitical and… Continue Reading
by Robert Olson The reestablishment of Turkish-Israeli diplomatic relations has been bruited about for the past several months. Expectations increased when Dore Gold, the director of Israel’s foreign ministry, arrived in Istanbul on March 20 to retrieve the bodies of three Israelis who… Continue Reading