Kurdish Peace Institute
@KurdishPeaceOrg
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Independent, nonpartisan research and policy institute advancing a non-derivative understanding of the Kurdish people and the regions in which they live.
Washington, DC
Joined December 2020
The Kurdish Peace Institute (KPI) is an independent, nonpartisan, and nonprofit 501(c)(3) research and policy institute based in Washington, D.C.
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The Kurdish Peace Institute is proud to announce that we have officially opened a sister office in Qamishlo, northeast Syria!. Read more below ⬇️.
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NEW: Reporting from the border, @jamesstout tells the stories of the Kurdish asylum seekers who fled political persecution in Turkey and made the dangerous journey through Mexico with the hope of starting new lives in the United States.
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Turkey’s unprovoked escalation against the AANES and SDF endangers counter-ISIS and stabilization efforts and puts civilian lives at risk. It is more clear now than ever that, absent a political solution, the Turkish-Kurdish conflict will remain a driver of regional instability.
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POLICY BRIEF: Turkey uses the F-16s it has to destabilize the Middle East and endanger Kurdish, Yezidi and Christian civilians. Congress should continue to block the sale of new jets as long as Turkish cross-border operations in Iraq and Syria continue.
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As the Biden administration doubles down on its support for F-16 sales to Turkey, @_____mjb looks to history to show how building Turkey's F-16 program exacerbated conflict, implicated the US in civilian harm, and strengthened Turkey's culture of impunity.
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We will share perspectives on #Kurdish political & military actors that analyze and engage with these entities in their own right, and explain how the Kurdish question impacts challenges of regional and global importance.
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EXCLUSIVE: International engagement in reviving peace talks between the government of Turkey and the PKK would be viewed positively by the Kurdish side, KCK Co-Chair and founding member of the PKK Cemil Bayik told the Kurdish Peace Institute.
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In the first half of 2023, Turkey conducted 665 air and drone strikes in Iraq and Syria. The pace of strikes has escalated since Erdogan's victory in Turkey's May 2023 elections.
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EXCLUSIVE: Co-Chair of the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK) Bese Hozat writes on the women-led resistance in East Kurdistan and Iran after the murder of Jina Amini and the meaning of "jin, jiyan, azadi." .
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Turkey continues to use the NATO accession process to make maximalist demands of European governments and secure backing for its militarist approach to the Kurdish issue. We’ve provided unique background and context:.
#BREAKING Turkey's Erdogan renews threat to 'freeze' Swedish, Finnish NATO bids unless alliance complies with Ankara's conditions
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EVENT | On the International Day of #WomenInDiplomacy, hear from Kurdish women diplomats on their experiences advancing Kurdish self-determination, gender equality, and regional security and peace. Date: Monday, June 24.Time: 11 AM EDT.Registration:
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✍️📑Interested in publishing with the Kurdish Peace Institute? . We welcome pitches related to Kurdish affairs and any relevant issues in the states in which Kurds live!.
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Turkish drone strikes targeting leaders in the AANES, the SDF & Kurdish civil society present a growing threat to governance, stabilization, & counter-ISIS efforts in the region & require a comprehensive response, @_____mjb explains in this policy brief.
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To ensure that Turkish-Kurdish escalation does not impede essential humanitarian recovery efforts in Syria and Turkey, the U.S. should take advantage of the PKK’s partial ceasefire and push Turkey to take reciprocal steps, @_____mjb argues.
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Court cases in Germany and Belgium and at the European Court of Justice may change how Europe classifies the PKK. @fgeerdink explains how this may impact efforts to resolve Turkey’s 40-year armed conflict with the group.
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EVENT | Turkey continues to threaten a third invasion of North and East Syria, a move that would have serious consequences for regional peace and human rights. Why is this happening now, and what could be done to avert conflict?. Register for the webinar:
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U.S. sanctions on the Turkey-backed Hamza Division and Suleiman Shah Brigade over their record of rights abuses, including those targeting Kurdish women in Afrin, are an important step in addressing the gendered harms of Turkey's war on Kurdish groups.
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Turkey’s Operation Olive Branch and Operation Peace Spring decimated Yezidi communities in Afrin and Ras al-Ain while allowing ISIS perpetrators of genocide against the Yezidis of Sinjar to evade justice and continue to pose a threat, @_____mjb finds.
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The Turkish campaign to force Kurds from their homes in Afrin and deport Syrian refugees back from Turkey to replace them is demographic engineering. @StateDeptSpox should be honest about it.
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U.S. sanctions on the Turkey-backed Hamza Division and Suleiman Shah Brigade over their record of rights abuses, including those targeting Kurdish women in Afrin, are an important step in addressing the gendered harms of Turkey's war on Kurdish groups.
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The unequal relationship between Turkey and the KRG has has left the Iraqi Kurdish public less secure, @KamalChomani explains—but new momentum to push back on Turkish intervention in Iraq could change that, and international pressure could play a key role.
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Turkish and Iranian state policies in Kurdish regions create instability, economic inequality, and assimilation that drive many Kurds to work with those very states against collective Kurdish interests, writes @gordyyaeenn.
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EVENT | A Conversation with General Newroz Ahmed, Commander of the Women's Protection Units (@YPJ_Info). Introductory Comments: Emily Prey (@eepreylove) .Moderator: Meghan Bodette (@_____mjb) . 📅: 12/22/2022.⏰: 10:00 AM EST.🔗Register:
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Through educational programs, publications, and public research, we will shed light on the Kurdish people and their aspirations and seek to provide insight into how these aspirations interact with regional and global stakeholders.
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As Turkey demands that European governments crack down on Kurdish political expression, @fgeerdink explains how three European court cases regarding the criminalization of the PKK may help advance a political solution to the Turkish-Kurdish conflict.
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The pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) turns 10 years old this month, a milestone no other pro-Kurdish party in Turkey has reached. In this analysis, @_____mjb explains the other factors that differentiate the HDP from its predecessors.
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NEW: In this First Person analysis, senior Syrian Kurdish politician @ElhamAhmadSDC explains North and East Syria’s political strategies for addressing the threat of ISIS, resolving conflicts with Turkey and finding a lasting solution to Syria’s crisis.
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As the Biden administration defies bipartisan criticism in Congress to push for the sale of 40 F-16 fighter jets to Turkey, @_____mjb explains how the U.S. has ignored evidence of war crimes—and Congressional intent—to facilitate previous F-16 sales.
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Turkish military intervention accelerated the displacement of Yezidis, Syriacs and other religious minorities from northeast Syria and brought about explicitly religiously-motivated violence not seen in the region since ISIS was defeated.
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The deal made to address Turkey's opposition to Finland and Sweden's NATO membership reinforces policies of criminalization that have challenged peace advocacy and other Kurdish diaspora activism in Europe for decades, @iidaest explains.
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The mass detention of more than 20 journalists from independent pro-Kurdish news outlets in Turkey serves to stifle information about conflict and anti-democratic repression in Kurdish regions, explains @_____mjb.
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EXCLUSIVE: Calls for the PKK to declare a ceasefire were conveyed to the group by interested parties through Syrian Kurdish authorities, SDF Commander-in-Chief Mazlum Kobane told the Kurdish Peace Institute in a rare interview from northeastern Syria.
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EXCLUSIVE: An independent journalist in Sanandaj (Sine), where Iranian regime forces have begun a violent crackdown on Kurdish demonstrators after nearly one month of protests, writes on protest dynamics and the developing situation in the city.
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Why is a recent admission by a U.S. official that there is 'no military solution' to the conflict between Turkey and the PKK noteworthy, and what steps could the U.S. take to promote a political solution instead? @_____mjb explains.
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NEW: From on the ground in North and East Syria, @HoshangHesen writes on Turkey's ongoing decimation of civilian infrastructure, the U.S. role, and the long-term security implications for the region.
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The Turkey-Iraq 'Development Road' is framed as an economic initiative. In reality, it may be more related to efforts in both Ankara and Baghdad to counter the prospect of Kurdish self-rule, @HoshangHesen argues in this analysis.
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Turkish drone strikes targeting leaders in the AANES, the SDF, and Kurdish civil society present a growing threat to governance, stabilization, and counter-ISIS efforts and require a comprehensive response, @_____mjb explains in this policy brief. 🔗:
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The same anti-Kurdish agenda that once caused Turkey to turn a blind eye to ISIS expansion on its border is now pushing Ankara towards reconciliation with Damascus, explains @HoshangHesen. 🔗:
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Court cases in Germany and Belgium and at the European Court of Justice may change how Europe classifies the PKK. @fgeerdink explains how this may impact efforts to resolve Turkey’s 40-year armed conflict with the group.
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Nearly all Yezidi and Syriac population centers left in northeast Syria are in regions Turkey threatens to invade. On the Int'l Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion, read about the risks these religious minorities face.
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We aim to build a non-derivative understanding of these issues in their own right within policy circles by providing exclusive content and expertise.
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Turkish intervention in northern Syria jeopardizes the long-term existence of Yezidi communities in the country while benefitting individuals and entities involved in genocidal acts against the Yezidis of Sinjar.
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Turkey’s disregard for civilian life in its drone campaign and record of striking populated areas causes real civilian harm and creates a climate of fear that discourages Syrians from planning long-term futures in the northeast, writes @_____mjb.
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U.S. sanctions on the Turkey-backed Hamza Division and Suleiman Shah Brigade over their record of rights abuses, including those targeting Kurdish women in Afrin, are an important step in addressing the gendered harms of Turkey's war on Kurdish groups.
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HDP MP Semra Guzel has been arrested in Turkey today, becoming the 4th HDP MP jailed this parliamentary term. In this analysis, @_____mjb explains the goals and history of the pro-Kurdish political movement and why it has become the target of repression.
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"Turkish Threats Against Northeast Syria: Why Now and What's Next?" . webinar starts with @hadeelOueiss describing the situation on the ground since Turkey's last invasion: "Since 2019 Turkey has been using water as a weapon against northeast Syria.".
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In this policy brief, @_____mjb puts a Biden administration official's recent comment that 'there is no military solution' to the Turkey-PKK conflict in context and proposes steps the U.S. could take to facilitate a political solution.
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In this analysis, Adnan Celik explains how Kurds in Turkey worked to face the past and address the Armenian Genocide despite Turkey's nationalist and denialist political climate, and how increased repression since 2015 has put these efforts at risk.
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As outrage against Turkish intervention in Iraq builds, @KamalChomani discusses the long-term impact of close Turkey-KRG relations on the Iraqi Kurdish public and explains how the international community could help roll back Turkish influence. 🔗:
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Turkish intervention in northern Syria jeopardizes the long-term existence of Yezidi communities in the country while benefitting individuals and entities involved in genocidal acts against the Yezidis of Sinjar, writes @_____mjb. 🔗:
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Turkey-PKK clashes have serious consequences for the KRI. Iraqi Kurdish leaders have helped to de-escalate tensions before—and if Turkey’s elections lead to renewed dialogue, they may be well-placed to do so again, @vvanwilgenburg explains.
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"Since 2017, following the liberation of Raqqa, [Department of State] figures who observe and lead stabilization programming have intentionally avoided support for projects located in the northern, mostly Kurdish-majority areas," a local NGO worker said.
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NEW: Since 2015, the government of Turkey has systematically overturned democratic election results in Kurdish regions by installing unelected leaders in place of elected ones in order to prevent pro-Kurdish parties from governing at the municipal level.
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“If there is a serious will for a solution in the Turkish public opinion (which is developing), in the Turkish state, and in the international arena, especially in the U.S., the Kurdish side is both willing and ready.” . Read the exclusive interview ⬇️ .
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🎙️KPI Director of Research @_____mjb discusses her recent report on Turkey's targeted killings of non-combatant politicians, activists and civil society figures in Iraq and Syria with @amberinzaman for @AlMonitor's "On the Middle East.". Listen here:
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📰 Rojava TV interviews Director of Research Meghan Bodette at KPI's conference "Elections in North and East Syria: Opportunities and Challenges," which brought political parties, civil society and media together to debate proposed local elections in NES.
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Today, the U.S. designated the Hamza Division and the Suleiman Shah Brigade for serious human rights abuses against Kurds in Afrin, including torture and sexual violence, under Executive Order (E.O.) 13894 on the situation in Syria.
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Northern Syria crisis:.▶️ Arab SDF capture strategic areas from regime in Raqqa and DeZ.▶️ 🇺🇸 and 🇷🇺 push back on 🇹🇷 threats against Manbij: SDF.▶️ DAANES authorities scramble to support Shahba IDPs.▶️ SDF says they are talking to HTS to secure Kurdish neighborhoods in Aleppo.
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NEW: Among the targets of Turkey's campaign of attacks on critical civilian infrastructure in northeast Syria were two facilities that received @USAID support — an escalation for Turkey's policy of opposition to international assistance to Kurdish areas.
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Turkey’s opposition has made a controversial agreement that could see the anti-democratic practice of state seizures of local elected governments in Kurdish regions continue even if Erdogan loses the May 28 runoff. Here’s why it matters ⬇️.
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Since Turkish military operations in Afrin began, Turkey and Turkey-backed militias have sought to punish Kurdish women in Afrin for their ethnicity, their gender, and their real or perceived participation in political life before the occupation.
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📰Director of Research Meghan Bodette quoted in @K24English: “Turkey’s campaign of extrajudicial assassinations of AANES and SDF personnel weakens governance and security in the region and terrorizes civilian populations.”.
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To build a true democracy, Iranian opposition groups and activists must be careful not to replicate the discriminatory attitudes towards minorities that undergird some of the regime's most anti-democratic policies, @gordyyaeenn argues in this analysis.
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The HDP contributed to both electoral setbacks Erdogan's government has faced in the past decade. Those cases show how it may do so again in 2023 and how the government may respond, writes @_____mjb in this analysis of the pro-Kurdish political movement.
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🕊️ Is peace in Turkey back on the table? . Efforts to address Turkey's unresolved 'Kurdish question' through dialogue and end the armed conflict between the state and the PKK could be revived as the Middle East prepares for wider war and Erdogan ponders his political future.
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Today marks 109 years since the start of the #ArmenianGenocide. In this analysis, @NisanAlici explains how Turkey can move towards democratization and pluralism by confronting the legacy of these atrocities through a transitional justice lens.
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Since Turkish military operations in Afrin began, Turkey and Turkey-backed militias have sought to punish Kurdish women in Afrin for their ethnicity, their gender, and their real or perceived participation in political life before the occupation.
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An estimated 90% of Afrin's pre-invasion Yezidi population has fled. Several Yezidi religious and cultural sites have been defaced or destroyed. Yezidis have been abducted for ransom by SNA groups, tortured, and pressured to renounce their religion.
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The Union of Communities in Kurdistan (KCK) has announced that the partial ceasefire it had implemented in response to the February 6 earthquake in Turkey and Syria will be extended through Turkey’s May 14 elections.
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A legal case concerning 2014 anti-ISIS protests in Kurdish regions of Turkey that presents social media posts and hashtags as evidence of violent anti-state activity is central to Turkey's efforts to shut down the pro-Kurdish HDP, @cgunes07 explains.
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Yesterday's alleged Turkish drone strike in Sulaymaniyah, Iraqi Kurdistan has serious implications for regional politics and security. The Kurdish Peace Institute has published exclusive analysis and insights on Turkey's escalating cross-border campaigns and expanding drone war.
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📺 Why is Turkey cracking down on independent Kurdish media? How do Kurdish news outlets break the silence on human rights abuses in Turkey? And how can we best support press freedom there?. KPI's @_____mjb and Habibe Eren of @kurdijinnews discuss.
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KPI Director of Research @_____mjb joins @nowthisnews to discuss how Kurdish women have organized against patriarchy and state oppression across the region in the context of the ongoing women-led protest movement in Rojhelat and Iran.
'It is women’s participation . that is adding strength to these demonstrations' — Here’s how the protests over women’s freedoms in Iran go hand in hand with the struggle for liberation of Kurds, an ethnic minority facing discrimination in the country. (with @KurdishPeaceOrg)
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NEW: @gordyyaeenn documents the tactics of transnational repression that the Islamic Republic of Iran uses to target Kurdish human rights defenders across the globe, featuring firsthand testimonies from Kurdish activists under threat.
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In this latest policy brief, KPI Executive Director @GiranOzcan says the U.S. must “make it absolutely clear both privately and publicly that any further incursions into Syrian territory are unacceptable.”
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Today, governments and global institutions will commemorate the #YezidiGenocide. But 9 years after ISIS attacked Sinjar, survivors lack basic security and an adequate standard of living—a fact many attribute to the community's continued marginalization.
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KPI Non-Resident Fellow @KamranMatin quoted in @voxdotcom on #IranProtests2022: "The Kurds have always led the way in resistance against what I would describe, even in kind of scientific terms, as a semi-fascist state." .
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Bans on Kurdish symbolism in Europe highlight Turkey’s influence abroad. Activists pushing back are standing up not only for free speech, but also for a change in how European states address the Turkish-Kurdish conflict altogether, writes @MattBroomfield1.
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As the Biden administration defies bipartisan criticism in Congress to push for the sale of 40 F-16 fighter jets to Turkey, @_____mjb explains how the U.S. has ignored evidence of war crimes—and Congressional intent—to facilitate previous F-16 sales.
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Turkey's claimed 'safe zone' is an existential threat to religious minorities, with two of the three Yezidi population centers and five of the six Syriac population centers left in northeast Syria found in territory that Turkey threatens to occupy.
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If large-scale involuntary repatriations to Afrin continue, many more housing settlements will likely be constructed—accelerating the theft of land and property from Afrin’s Kurdish residents and the displacement of the few Kurds remaining in Afrin.
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“Kurdish & Arab officials of the AANES have begun to establish political & diplomatic contacts with Arab countries & stressed the importance of a Kurdish-Arab alliance for a political solution in Syria & peace in the Middle East.”. By @KamalChomani
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Kurdish rebellions against the Iranian state birthed modern Kurdish nationalism — but their latest uprising saw less transnational support from Kurds across the region. @gordyyaeenn investigates why.
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By backing Turkey’s efforts to address the Kurdish question militarily, the United States has prolonged and inflamed conflict in ways that benefit autocrats and extremists across the region, explains @_____mjb in this analysis.
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December 9 marks the International Day of Commemoration and Dignity of the Victims of the Crime of Genocide. Nine years after the Yezidi Genocide, Sinjar still lacks basic security and resources. Yezidi-led initiatives are demanding justice and action.
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That same year, Turkey announced a ‘safe zone’ project that was anything but safe for religious minorities like Yezidis and Syriacs—whose last remaining towns and villages in northeast Syria are now under constant threat of war. Read the report ⬇️ .
In 2019, 22 August was designated by the UN General Assembly as the International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief
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Iran's Kurdish opposition has an opportunity to improve its political position by reassessing its strategies based on political, social and economic changes in the country, explains @abdullahawez in this look at Iranian Kurdish politics.
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In this analysis, @dryasinduman explains how intra-Kurdish interactions across borders built the Kurdish movement's political model of democratic autonomy and how periods of peace and conflict impacted the success of these interactions and processes.
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Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has demanded that Sweden and Finland change their laws to criminalize Kurdish protests if they want to join NATO. @_____mjb explains here how Turkey is using the NATO accession process to export authoritarianism.
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Two civilian infrastructure sites in northeast Syria that received @USAID support — an oxygen bottling plant and a power station supplying the critical Alouk Water Station — were destroyed in Turkish drone strikes in December 2023 and January 2024.
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Turkish military intervention in northeastern Syria has caused grave harm to women's lives and physical safety and to their unique efforts to promote gender equality, writes @meliike_yasar in this analysis.
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Turkish drone strikes targeting leaders in the AANES and SDF present a growing threat to governance, stabilization, and counter-ISIS efforts and require a comprehensive response, @_____mjb explains in this policy brief.
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“In the aftermath of the Iranian Revolution, the Islamic Republic cemented the foundations of its rule and quashed progressive forces in the country by controlling women’s bodies and suppressing the Kurdish insurgency," writes @asoschia.
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In his latest from northern Syria, @HoshangHesen writes on previous dialogues between Turkey and the Syrian Kurds, the current state of conflict, and what it might take to achieve a lasting agreement in the future.
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Turkish and Iranian state policies in Kurdish regions create instability, economic inequality, and assimilation that drive many Kurds to work with those very states against collective Kurdish interests, argues @gordyyaeenn in this analysis.
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Our event with @KurdishSIS on the implications of the U.S. presidential elections for the Kurdish issue is beginning! . Prof. @YerevanSaeed of @AU_SIS introduces speakers Amb. James Jeffrey of @WilsonCenterMEP, Prof. @hbarkey of @LehighU & Amb. William Roebuck of @GulfStatesInst.
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Kurds and women have become the primary targets of Erdogan’s consolidation of power along religious and nationalist lines. In Turkey’s upcoming elections, no groups may have more at stake, writes @meliike_yasar.
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Since Turkish military operations in Afrin began, Turkey and Turkey-backed militias have sought to punish Kurdish women in Afrin for their ethnicity, their gender, and their real or perceived participation in political life before the occupation.
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