Tag Archives: Kurds

Kurdish Advances

Posted on June 21, 2014 by jonathanspyer

Jerusalem Post, 21/6 The stunning collapse of the Iraqi army in Mosul, and the rapid advance of the fighters of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) through Tikrit and toward Baghdad has created a new reality in Iraq. … Continue reading →

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Wars Within Wars

Posted on May 16, 2014 by jonathanspyer

Weekly Standard, 16/5 With Syrian presidential elections scheduled for June, the incumbent and shoo-in for reelection, Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, is campaigning on the promise that 2014 will be the year in which military operations in Syria end. However, the … Continue reading →

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Kurdistan Emerges

Posted on March 9, 2014 by jonathanspyer

Jerusalem Post, 7/3 In late February, The Jerusalem Post spoke to prominent Kurdish leader Zubeyir Aydar in the Brussels offices of the Kurdistan National Congress (KNK). Aydar’s official title is vice-president of the Koma Civakên Kurdistan (KCK) (Group of Communities in Kurdistan.  He is … Continue reading →

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War across the borders – one sectarian war in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon

Posted on February 16, 2014 by jonathanspyer

 A version of this article appeared in the February 2014 issue of Tower magazine: A single sectarian war is currently under way across the Middle East.  This war has a number of fronts, some more intense and active than others.  … Continue reading →

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Defending ‘Rojava’

Posted on November 8, 2013 by jonathanspyer

Jerusalem Post, 8/11: Kurds Consolidate borders of enclave with victories over al-Qaida in northern Syria The situation in Syria may appear after two and a half years to have turned into a static and bewildering slaughter. Neither victory nor defeat … Continue reading →

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Kurdish Independence Now

Posted on September 29, 2013 by jonathanspyer

The civil war in Syria and the increasing fragility of Iraq have thrown the long-term future of these states into question. For years, they were ruled by brutal regimes that held power in the name of Arab nationalism; as a … Continue reading →

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Al-Qaeda battles Kurds in Syria

Posted on August 21, 2013 by jonathanspyer

Jerusalem Post, 16/8. Massoud Barzani, president of the Kurdish Regional Government in northern Iraq, threatened this week to send forces into northern Syria, to defend beleaguered Kurds there. In the statement, issued on August 10, the Kurdish leader said that … Continue reading →

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Wars within Wars in northern Syria

Posted on July 19, 2013 by jonathanspyer

Jerusalem Post, 19/7: A senior figure in the Free Syrian Army this week said that al Qaeda in Syria were preparing to declare an ‘Islamic state’ in rebel-held northern Syria. This announcement came in the course of a frenetic period … Continue reading →

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Erdogan’s Kurdish Gambit

Posted on May 17, 2013 by jonathanspyer

Jerusalem Post, 17/5 On May 8th, fighters of the Kurdish PKK militia began to withdraw from their positions in Turkey, bound for their mountain strongholds in Kurdish-ruled northern Iraq. The decision by the PKK to withdraw is the result of … Continue reading →

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The Kurds are for the Kurds

Posted on March 9, 2013 by jonathanspyer

Weekly Standard, 9/3. In northeast Syria, from the border with Iraq to the disputed town of Seri Kaniyah, a de facto Kurdish autonomous region has emerged. The area, known to the Kurds as western Kurdistan, is ruled by the Democratic … Continue reading →

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