Shoresh Darwish 16 posts 0 comments

Few Syrian voices have denounced the European advice offered by German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and her French colleague Jean-Yves Le Drian to the Syrian interim government. In fact, the denunciation has taken on a tone of defiance, with phrases such as “we don’t need foreign interference” and “we can solve our own problems without […]

The conflict in and over Syria appears to continually necessitate the invocation or fabrication of grand Stories. In this article, we will borrow the term “Story” from Yuval Noah Harari, who has skillfully employed it to discuss the significance of Stories in a global context. The world has always needed stories to be told—such as […]

The Assad regime effectively collapsed 12 days after the start of “Deterrence of Aggression Operation,” after a bloody rule lasting nearly 14 years. Ultimately, the regime came to an official end when its leader fled without engaging in one last ‘honorable’ battle. However, the remnants of the regime—beyond the brutal prison scenes and family photo […]

The map of the armed conflict remains liquid as Hayat Tahrir al-Sham advances beyond the borders of Aleppo to the outskirts of Hama province. While Syrian regime forces struggle to repel the advancing troops following an unprecedented series of withdrawals, leaving behind heavy weapons and hundreds of thousands of residents, pro-Turkish National Army factions have […]

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has yet to grasp the thread that would enable him to maintain the old regional order. Iran is no longer the same following the blows it and its proxies received before October 7, 2023. The war that has dismantled the external borders of the Iranian regime in Gaza, Lebanon, and […]

The issue of “identity” preoccupied the late Ottoman milieu. There were those who argued that an Ottoman identity must be formulated to preserve territorial unity and protect the “eternal Ottoman state,” as was the case in the late literature of the intellectuals of Abdul Hamid II’s court, and those for whom identity took on nationalist […]

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has a tried-and-true strategy for dealing with the Turks regarding the Syrian file. It is enough for him to trigger Turkey’s pathological fears regarding the Kurds and declare the dangers of the secession of the Autonomous Administration and the creation of a Kurdish entity, which causes Ankara to flinch and […]

Iran’s purportedly ‘reformist’ President Masoud Pezeshkian inherited a multitude of internal and external challenges shortly after succeeding his late predecessor, Ebrahim Raisi. Additionally, he faced numerous border issues with neighboring countries. The water crisis caused by Turkish dams on the Aras River continues to trouble Tehran. Security concerns with the Republic of Azerbaijan, the strong […]

At the beginning of his presidency, President Joe Biden seemed poised to initiate major troop withdrawals after the last withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan in 2021. Shortly thereafter, he adjusted the nature of U.S. military presence in Iraq, limiting it to an advisory role. Despite this, Biden has maintained the number of U.S. troops […]

Where does ‘security’ end and ‘occupation’ begin? Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein and his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan signed the initial letters of a memorandum of understanding for military and security cooperation and counterterrorism on August 15th, 2024. This marks a continuation of the security agreements signed in Baghdad on April 22nd, during a visit […]

The Syrian opposition’s statements in response to Turkish leader Tayyip Erdoğan’s desire to reconcile with Syria’s Bashar al-Assad show their angry rejection, but do not provide a clear picture of what has even been proposed. Except for a small contingent of the Turkish-backed Syrian opposition that is justifying Erdoğan’s intention in a pathetic manner, the […]

Turkey has shifted its foreign policy focus to Iraq, following rumors that the US-led Coalition forces may soon withdraw. Looking to fill the potential void, Turkey is ready to adopt a new approach to Iraq based on broadening the fields of trade and security-based economic projects and codifying their military occupation of the Kurdistan Region […]

Introduction This report aims to shed light on three major socio-political chapters and phases in the city of Ras al-Ayn[2] (hereafter referred to by its Kurdish name of Serê Kaniyê) since the outset of the millennium up to the current day. Much attention has been paid to details of the barbaric acts perpetrated by the […]

In the aftermath of the earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria on February 6, a considerable change has occurred amongst many civilians in Turkish occupied northwest Syria regarding the public perception of the Kurds. Previously, many of these Syrians cynically adhered to the xenophobic discourse and propaganda spread by Ankara in order to continue to […]

This two part article was originally written in the Arabic section of The Kurdish Center for Studies and has been translated to English for wider viewing. Part I can be read → here Syria, a fledgling successor state to the Ottoman Empire, could not withstand early Turkish aspirations, had it not been for the French […]

This two part article was originally written in the Arabic section of The Kurdish Center for Studies and has been translated to English for wider viewing. Part II can be read → here There are assumptions among policy makers that the potential of normalization talks between Ankara and Damascus may serve as a prelude to […]