a comparative study of turkey’s foreign policy towards the kurds of iraq and syria in the post-arab uprisings period

The arab uprisings initiated a new phase of security order in the middle east. in light of these developments, türkiye is regarded as one of the players who set the stage for shifting its regional stance. moreover, the kurds in northern iraq and syria were able to express their desire for independence, which led to new geopolitical developments in the north middle east. in this regard, the attitudes of turkish politicians toward the kurds in northern iraq and syria demonstrate their different views of the aforementioned kurdish territories in the years following the beginning of the arab uprisings. now the question here is why the turkish government behaved differently toward the kurdish areas of iraq and syria both during and after the arab uprisings. the turkish government’s divergent actions seem to be caused by two factors: on the one hand, its security concerns regarding the autonomous territories of the syrian kurds in the south of türkiye; and on the other hand, its economic gains from the kurdish territories of iraq, including oil concessions. put simply, the contradictory behavior of turkish statesmen toward syrian and iraqi kurds in the post-arab uprisings is influenced by existential security concerns as well as economic and political interests. this paper aims to use the defensive realism theory to address the double standards of türkiye towards the kurds of iraq and syria in the post-arab uprising era.

a comparative study of turkey’s foreign policy towards the kurds of iraq and syria in the post-arab uprisings period

the arab uprisings initiated a new phase of security order in the middle east. in light of these developments, türkiye is regarded as one of the players who set the stage for shifting its regional stance. moreover, the kurds in northern iraq and syria were able to express their desire for independence, which led to new geopolitical developments in the north middle east. in this regard, the attitudes of turkish politicians toward the kurds in northern iraq and syria demonstrate their different views of the aforementioned kurdish territories in the years following the beginning of the arab uprisings. now the question here is why the turkish government behaved differently toward the kurdish areas of iraq and syria both during and after the arab uprisings. the turkish government’s divergent actions seem to be caused by two factors: on the one hand, its security concerns regarding the autonomous territories of the syrian kurds in the south of türkiye; and on the other hand, its economic gains from the kurdish territories of iraq, including oil concessions. put simply, the contradictory behavior of turkish statesmen toward syrian and iraqi kurds in the post-arab uprisings is influenced by existential security concerns as well as economic and political interests. this paper aims to use the defensive realism theory to address the double standards of türkiye towards the kurds of iraq and syria in the post-arab uprising era.