Over 250 people are said to have been killed since Turkey launched a wave of attacks against Kurdish forces in neighboring Syria. At the same time, Iran is attacking the Kurdish areas in northern Iraq. Turkish authorities call the Kurdish forces terrorists. – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his party always gain three to four percentage points in the opinion polls when they carry out these attacks, says Chalak Kaveh. He is an associate professor in history at Volda University College. Chalak Kaveh, associate professor of history at the University of Volda. He believes that the regimes in Turkey and Iran are deliberately trying to divert the countries’ populations from internal challenges by attacking the Kurds. Photo: Svein Olsson / news Even if the progress only lasts a couple of months, it is often decisive for Erdogan at home, Kaveh believes. That is enough for the president to be re-elected. – Iran is doing exactly the same. The regime is trying to derail the protests in the country by saying that the Kurds are engaged in separatism and must be put down. Problems at home According to Kaveh, this is an attempt to take the focus away from real problems that both regimes have at home. While Iran attacks Kurdish groups in Iraq, Turkey bombs targets in both Iraq and Syria The Kurds are an ethnic group that does not have its own country. They live in an area spanning southeastern Turkey, northern Iraq, northwestern Iran, and northeastern Syria. Turkish President Erdogan has blamed Kurdish militants for the deadly bombing in Istanbul earlier in November. The Kurdish organization PKK, which is listed as a terrorist organization by the EU, has for its part rejected the accusations. The bomb killed six people, while more than 80 people were injured, according to the authorities. The explosion in Istanbul’s popular Istiklal shopping street on November 13 killed six people. Here, the coroners are on hand to pick up one of the dead. Photo: Ismail Coskun / AP So far, Turkey has attacked close to 500 Kurdish targets in Syria and Iraq since the country began a new military operation on 19 November. The offensive is aimed at the PKK and the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia. Turkish authorities have previously said, according to the BBC, that they were going to launch a major offensive in the Kurdish areas of Syria. They also want to create a so-called security zone against Turkey. NATO warns NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg points out that Turkey is the NATO country most exposed to terrorist attacks. He emphasizes that the EU and NATO also have the PKK on their list of terrorist organisations. – Turkey has the right to self-defence against terrorism, just as other NATO countries have operated in Iraq and Syria to fight terrorism, says Stoltenberg to news. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg warns against undermining what has been achieved in the fight against IS. Photo: Simen Ekern / news – At the same time, it is important that measures implemented by Turkey are proportionate. And that Turkey does not do anything that undermines what we have achieved in the fight against IS. Stoltenberg describes the situation in the areas targeted by the attacks as “extremely unclear and complex”. – There are partly groups that NATO has collaborated with in the fight against IS, and partly groups that are responsible for terrorist attacks against Turkey. Unfortunately, it is difficult and unclear. Therefore, it is important that what Turkey does does not undermine what we have achieved in the fight against IS, says the NATO chief. Uncertain if the strategy is working In Iran, the attacks are linked to the protests in the country. The authorities have this autumn accused Kurdish groups of starting “riots”. It is their term for the nationwide mass protests that broke out after the Kurdish Mahsa Amini (22) died in the custody of the morality police in September. Iran accuses the exile groups of inciting the protests. Amini was from the Kurdish-dominated city of Saqqez in Iran, near the Iraqi border. In several Iranian cities where the Kurds are in the majority, there have been large protests against the regime, which has hit the demonstrators very hard. Syrian Kurds attend the funeral of 11 people who are said to have been killed in Turkish airstrikes. The picture is from al-Malikiyah (Derik) in Syria’s northeastern Hasakah province, 21 November 2022. Photo: GIHAD DARWISH / AFP Iranian authorities have also responded with rocket and drone attacks against Kurdish opposition groups based in Iraq. – The common features of the Turkish and Iranian attacks are clear. They are both carried out by authoritarian states, says Chalak Kaveh. He is unsure whether the regime’s strategy will work in the long term. Kaveh believes it is clear that people in Iran see through that it is an attempt by the regime to stifle discontent. Elections and polarization In Turkey, presidential elections will be held in June next year, and incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is seeking re-election. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has blamed the Kurdish PKK for the bombing of Istanbul on November 13. Turkey has recently attacked Kurdish areas in Syria and Iraq. Photo: Burhan Ozbilici / AP Einar Wigen, associate professor at the Department of Cultural Studies and Oriental Languages at the University of Oslo, does not want to predict how extensive the Turkish attacks against Kurdish areas may become in the future. However, he points out to NTB that the upcoming election campaign could lead to further polarization in Turkey. – There is a lot of talk about political loyalty, those who support Erdogan believe in what he says and does. Those who do not, go in the opposite direction. So we can expect that polarization in Turkey will increase in the future. It probably does not serve the Kurds’ cause, says Wigen to NTB.
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Expert believes attacks on Kurds will derail protests in Iran and Turkey – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
