Simon Tisdall, The Guardian: Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's risky gamble could quickly turn sour
Turkish president defies Russia, the US and Bashar al-Assad with assault on Kurds in Syria
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s Kurdish vendetta has taken a dramatic new twist with the cross-border ground assault on the Afrin enclave in north-west Syria.
Defying Russia, the US, and Bashar al-Assad’s regime, Turkey’s headstrong president is betting on a decisive victory over Syrian Kurd forces. But his risky gamble could quickly turn sour.
The initial incursion by Turkish troops and their Free Syrian Army (FSA) allies on Sunday, preceded by days of airstrikes and artillery shelling, appeared tentative and limited in scope. The Syrian Kurd People’s Protection Units (YPG) militia, said to number 10,000 fighters in Afrin, is not giving an inch. They are dug in and they are defending the Rojava – the fabled Kurdish homeland.
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Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- January 21, 2018
Is America's Alliance with Turkey Worth It? -- Ted Galen Carpenter, National Interest
Turkey’s State of Emergency: Could the Kurdish issue be the one that ultimately shakes Erdoğan’s seemingly unbreakable grip on power? -- Maurice Glasman, The Nation
Palestine's Outdated Leadership Threatens Its Future -- Mohammed Ayoob, National Interest
Destroying the Iran Deal While Claiming to Save It -- Philip Gordon and Robert Malley, The Atlantic
Iran's wealth gap: tens of millions struggle to get by -- Zein Basravi, Al Jazeera
Iran's Latest Revolution Won't Fade Away -- Geneive Abdo and Abdallah Hendawy, Bloomberg
The next supreme leader could transform Iran -- Saeid Golkar, Al Jazeera
Why is Jerusalem so central to Pence's Middle East visit? -- Reuters
On the Politics behind Tunisia’s Protests -- Issandr El Amrani and Michael Ayari, Cairo Review
Anger that drove the Arab spring is flaring again -- Emma Graham-Harrison, The Guardian
Big News From China: Its Implosion Didn't Happen -- Daniel Moss, Bloomberg
Matteo Renzi fights to save Italy (and himself) -- Giada Zampano, Politico
U.S. rising as world's 'undisputed' energy leader, global chief tells senators -- John Siciliano, Washington Examiner
The World Has Never Seen an Oil Spill Like This -- Alexis C. Madrigal, The Atlantic
What to do when liberals are the censors? -- John Lloyd, Reuters
A year of real change -- President Donald Trump
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