Civil resistance is mounting to the consolidating dictatorship in Turkey, with thousands marching cross-country from Ankara to Istanbul and protests emerging to Erdogan's power-grab.
The UN reports a “notable trend of spontaneous returns” of displaced Syrians as regime gains bring a modicum of peace to some areas—but mass killings by regime forces continue.
With the Syrian Kurds now facing open war from both Turkey and the Assad regime, the imminent taking of Raqqa portends a multi-sided scramble for former ISIS territory.
Turkish government claims that Kurdish rebels in the country's east are profiting from the hashish trade point to an integrated counter-insurgency and drug enforcement campaign.
Clashes broke out between Syrian rebel factions and Kurdish fighters in Aleppo province, as Arabs and Kurds are further pitted against each other by Great Power manipulation.
Authorities in Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region announced that a referendum on independence will be held in September—drawing immediate harsh criticism from Baghdad.
After Kurdish guerillas attacked an Iranian border patrol, Tehran blamed Turkey for failing to prevent "terrorist" infiltration—even as Turkey is building a security wall along the frontier.
Amid jeers and demands for the death penalty from government supporters, a trial opened for over 200 Turkish ex-officials accused in last year's attempted coup.
As Rodrigo Duterte openly defies rights groups and the UN in his murderous war on low-level drug dealers and users, Trump invites the Philippine strongman to the White House.
Two sisters abused by their family in Saudi Arabia were deported by Turkey—despite their asylum bid and fears they will be tortured or even executed by Saudi authorities.
In his White House meeting with Erdogan, Trump was sure to pledge support against the PKK "terrorists"—even as the US is backing PKK-aligned Kurds against ISIS in Syria.
The Rojava Kurds, caught in a pincer between Turkey and ISIS, are being forced to accept superpower aid—but with costs for Syrian revolutionary unity against ISIS and Assad.
