Turkey’s Kurdish problem and the Syrian civil war: What next?

The UI Podcast

Following Turkey’s incursion into northeastern Syria, the de facto autonomous region controlled by the Kurdish-led SDF seems to have come to an end. Turkey, wanting to establish a safe zone to secure Turkey’s border with Syria and resettle a substantial share of the 3,6 million Syrian refugees it is hosting, is currently patrolling the border areas along with Russian military police. The incursion, formally called ‘Operation Peace Spring’, seem to have strengthened the position of president Erdoğan domestically in Turkey, while internationally it has been condemned. What are Turkey’s long-term goals in the region? Will Turkey be able to continue its balancing act between the US and Russia? What lies ahead for the Kurds and other communities in northeastern Syria? How does the Turkish incursion affect the prospects for a peaceful solution to its own ‘Kurdish problem’? Speakers: Selim Koru, analyst at the Economic Policy Research Foundation of Turkey (TEPAV) and a writing fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute (FPRI). His work focuses on political ideas, the Turkish right and Turkish foreign policy. Cengiz Çandar, Author and Associate Fellow at Stockholm University Institute for Turkish Studies and the Swedish Institute of International Affairs. The seminar was moderated by Paul T. Levin, Director of the Stockholm Institute for Turkish Studies. This seminar was a cooperation between the Swedish Institute of International Affairs and the Stockholm University Institute for Turkish Studies.