Kurdish-Turkish Conflict
All topics-
Countdown to the Turkish election
Erdogan beats the nationalist drum
Elected Mayor of Istanbul in 1994, Recep Tayyip Erdogan pledged not blame Turkeyʹs problems on "outside powers, outside forces, or foreigners". Years later, with the weight of the presidency and a struggling currency upon him, that pledge is long gone. By Tom Stevenson
-
Turkey's snap election
The calculus of alliances
The upcoming ballot in Turkey on 24 June will be a race between the People's Alliance, formed to keep Erdogan president, versus the Nation Alliance, which aims to beat him or at least win a parliamentary majority. The result, however, depends on a third party, the pro-Kurdish HDP. Ayse Karabat reports from Istanbul
-
The Gulen movement and the failed coup in Turkey
Harmless is not the word
Since the attempted coup in Turkey in July 2016, the accusation that the Gulen movement was behind the failed putsch has met with scepticism in the West. A new book shows, however, that the movement was never just about dialogue and education, but has instead always sought to grasp the reins of state. By Ulrich Schwerin
-
James Joyce′ "Ulysses" in Kurdish
Across snotgrean seas
Author and translator Kawa Nemir has just finished translating James Joyce′s masterpiece of Irish literature into the Kurdish language of Kurmanji. His aim? To build bridges between the Kurdish culture and world literature. By Tom Stevenson and Murat Bayram
-
Mosque attacks in Germany
A duty to protect
The recent spate of mosque attacks and a rise in hate crime has immigrants in Germany sounding the alarm. Community leaders are calling for more support and understanding from state authorities, including the police. By Astrid Prange
-
Public debate in Turkey post-Afrin
"There are plenty of traitors"
Verbal attacks, death threats and hate speech are an increasingly common feature of public discourse in Turkey. And many think that this mix of nationalistic, pseudo-religious and discriminatory rhetoric is being stoked by the government. By Ceyda Nurtsch
-
Release of German journalist Deniz Yucel
It′s not over yet
Die Welt correspondent Deniz Yucel has finally been freed after a year in custody, but this has done nothing to change the situation within the Turkish media and judiciary. Commentary by Ulrich von Schwerin
-
Mosque attacks in Germany
The wrong target
Since the beginning of the Turkish military offensive in the northern Syrian enclave of Afrin, there have been repeated violent attacks on Turkish mosques in Germany. Foreign conflicts should not be imported to Germany, nor should the military conflicts of other nations be fuelled by weapons exports, says Armin Langer
-
Turkey′s Syrian offensive
A war of America′s making
Bereft of a coherent Syria policy, successive U.S. administrations have obsessed over targeting Islamic State (IS) without considering the full ramifications of their actions. Turkey′s incursion into northwestern Syria is just one consequence. Analysis by Barak Barfi
-
Turkey’s Afrin offensive
Wrong, but not unjustified
Although the presence of an armed group on Turkey′s border – especially one allied to the PKK – was inevitably going to be perceived as a threat, Ankara′s Afrin offensive has been given short shrift in Germany. Commentary by Ulrich von Schwerin
-
Turkey′s incursion into Syria
The Kurdish quagmire
The last thing the conflict in Syria needed was more external intrusion and the opening of another front. Turkey′s Afrin offensive has provided both. Once again, the Western powers and Russia have managed to foster a dangerous escalation. Commentary by Tom Stevenson
-
Turkish offensive in Syria
The poisoned olive branch
Turkey has launched its second military campaign in northern Syria. But this time it is not directed against Islamic State. Once again the Kurds are in the firing line. This move also has implications for relations with Russia. An analysis by Michael Martens