Kurdish Gains in Northern Syria Rattle Turkey

August 06, 2012 from VOA News

Kurds in the north of Syria say they have taken control of most of the region's major towns and cities from government forces. And, as Henry Ridgwell reports, Turkey fears the twin threats of the Syrian civil conflict spilling over the frontier as well as the potential escalation of its internal war against Kurdish separatists.

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Kurdish people

The Kurdish people, or Kurds, are an Iranic people native to Southwest Asia, mostly inhabiting a region known as Kurdistan, which includes adjacent parts of Turkey, Syria, Iran, and Iraq. They speak the Kurdish language, which is a member of the Iranian branch of Indo-European... Explore this topic

Syrian Civil War

The Syrian civil war is an ongoing armed conflict in Syria between forces loyal to the Syrian Ba'ath Party government and those seeking to oust it. The conflict began on 15 March 2011, with popular demonstrations that grew nationwide by April 2011. These demonstrations were pa... Explore this topic

Syria

Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south and Israel to the southwest. A country of fertile plains, high mountains and deserts, i... Explore this topic

Syria-Turkey relations

Syrian–Turkish relations have long been strained. Turkey shares its longest common border with Syria; various geographic and historical links also tie the two neighboring states together. This friction has been due to disputes including the self annexation of the Hatay Provinc... Explore this topic

Kurdish Conflict

The Kurdish–Turkish conflict is an armed conflict between the Republic of Turkey and various Kurdish insurgent groups, which have demanded separation from Turkey to create an independent Kurdistan, or to have autonomy and greater political and cultural rights for Kurds inside ... Explore this topic

Turkey

Turkey, officially the Republic of Turkey, is a transcontinental country, located mostly on Anatolia in Western Asia and on East Thrace in Southeastern Europe. Turkey is bordered by eight countries: Bulgaria to the northwest; Greece to the west; Georgia to the northeast; Armen... Explore this topic

PKK

The Kurdistan Workers' Party, commonly known as PKK, also known as KGK and formerly known as KADEK or KONGRA-GEL, is a Kurdish organization which has since 1984 been fighting an armed struggle against the Turkish state for an autonomous Kurdistan and cultural and political rig... Explore this topic

Syrian Kurdistan

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Recep Tayyip Erdoğan

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is the 25th and current Prime Minister of Turkey, in office since 2003. He is also the chairman of the ruling Justice and Development Party, which holds a majority of the seats in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. Erdoğan served as Mayor of Istanbul f... Explore this topic

Kurdistan

Kurdistan is a roughly defined geo-cultural region wherein the Kurdish people form a prominent majority population, and Kurdish culture, language, and national identity have historically been based. Contemporary use of Kurdistan refers to parts of eastern Turkey, northern Iraq... Explore this topic

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Kurdish people

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