The Threat of Being Squeezed from Both Sides: From the Main Opposition and the Small Partner

On January 14 in Washington, at the U.S. State Department building, Armenia’s Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken signed a strategic partnership agreement between the two countries.

Türk siyasətini yaxından izlədiyim 1991-ci ildən bəri polis əməliyyatlarının ümumilikdə kürd təmayüllü partiyalara və siyasətçilərə qarşı aparıldığına, tutulması lazım olan şəxslərin həbsxanaya göndərilməsindən və aranın nisbətən sakitləşməsindən sonra siyasi arenadakı kürd partiyası Konstitusiya Məhkəməsi tərəfindən qapadıldığına şahid olmuşam.

While Ankara awaits the moves of Syria's new leader Ahmad ash-Sha'aran, it also exerts pressure on the PKK's Syrian branch, PYD/YPG, through various means every hour of every day: Damascus urges the Kurdish cantons forming in the northeast to 'bury their weapons,' while Ankara communicates this demand more decisively to terrorists within its borders and in Northern Iraq. Since December 8, when an organization Turkey has supported in northwest Syria took control following the Assad family's escape, Turkey has been swiftly capitalizing on the satisfaction this brings. The speed and accuracy of the steps taken so far confirm this; it is clear that Ankara has been well-prepared for these days for years."

My reaction to a message from a friend, a representative of foreign media operating in Turkey, was naturally one of laughter: A doctoral student at Istanbul's Sabahattin Zaim University missed a few classes, and before his dissertation advisor could inquire about the reason, it became known that the student had been appointed as Syria’s Foreign Minister.