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The State of the Turkish-Kurdish Conflict
- Introduction and summary
The past five years have seen dramatic shifts in U.S. and Turkish policy toward Kurdish political and military actors, both within Turkey and in neighboring Syria and Iraq.
- Max Hoffman
- Center for American Progress
These shifts were driven by a complex convergence of domestic Turkish political trends and a rapidly shifting regional picture.
During this period, Turkish policy has oscillated from engagement with Kurdish players in pursuit of peaceful rapprochement to hard-edged repression at home and military intervention abroad.
Meanwhile, the United States has slowly abandoned its previous hands-off policy toward Kurdish nonstate actors to adopt a…