In northern Syria, Kurds have secured their own little autonomous nation since taking control of the land during the ongoing civil war, where they’ve served as consistent US allies in the fight against ISIS. But their northern neighbor Turkey is dead-set against any sort of Kurdish state and have threatened to invade to eliminate the threat. The US doesn’t want to lose the Kurdish alliance, so they’ve brokered a deal for a “peace corridor” on the Turkey-Syria border. But what are the details? And will it work? Phil and Cooper discuss this and more.
Extra Reading:
- Turkey, US agree to coordinate on Syrian buffer zone (Ayla Jean Yackley)
- What does US-Turkey military deal really entail? (Cengiz Candar)
- Deciphering the cryptic safe-zone deal between Turkey, US (Metin Gurcan)
- Syrian Kurdish commander sets conditions for safe zone talks with Turkey (Amberin Zaman)
- Turkey, Syrian Kurds remain at odds in safe zone visions (Fehim Tastekin)
- Pentagon sends team to scout Syria safe zone (Jack Detsch)
- Turks skeptical over accord with US for Syrian 'safe zone' (Semih Idiz)
Extra Listening:
- Episode #39, The Road to Rojava (2/1/2018): Metin Gurcan joins the podcast to talk about Turkey’s invasion of Afrin.
- Episode #67, Deep Cuts (8/30/2018): Tensions rise in the Idlib province of Syria due to Turkey’s plan to invade.
Music: Nassif Zeytoun - “Takke” (Spotify | Apple Music)
