The attack on Istanbul’s Ataturk airport in June 2016 indicates that the ISIS threat to Turkey is transforming from a sole criminal issue to a long-term strategic concern.
Turkey’s strategic objective is clear: to de-territorialize the YPG/PYD alongside its Syrian border, fix relations with the U.S. in Syria and recalibrate its military presence.
Turkey is revolutionizing its counter-terrorism strategy not only against the PKK in Turkey but also against other terrorist organizations in Syria and Iraq. The new face of terrorism and changing dynamics in the Middle East are likely to push Turkey to revolutionize its military affairs in the near future.
This is the first comprehensive counter-terror operation against the PKK. This time, the military strategy is not only targeting to eliminate PKK terrorists but also aiming to clean and hold the territory where the PKK has any presence.
Turkey’s first goal is to minimize the PKK’s presence and capacity and force it to withdraw from the areas it controls in the western flank of the Euphrates.
The propaganda machine for the PKK has also lost its functionality after Turkey’s Afrin operation. This will certainly affect the image of being an effective ground force in the fight against Daesh. As a result, it can be safely argued that the PKK faces a very complicated future in both...
Turkey's recent military operation, Operation Claw, is a continuation of Turkey's counter-terrorism strategy of maintaining active military presence and fight on the field. The operation has three objectives.
By focusing on three significant cases in Syria, this study develops a new analytical perspective to unpack the strategic logic behind NSAGs’ survival in a competitive, anarchical conflict environment.
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