“Following the fall of the Assad regime, Turkey has become the most important regional actor in the country. By providing support for Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), Ankara’s been consolidating its power over Syria. Turkey’s main objective, other than carrying out forced returns of Syrian refugees and benefiting from future economic opportunities during the reconstruction phase, is to deny Kurdish aspirations for autonomy, and more specifically undermine the AANES [ the Kurdish-led Autonomous Administration of the North East of Syria] . This would set a precedent for Kurdish self-determination in Turkey… While HTS hasn’t participated in any military confrontations against the SDF in recent weeks, the organisation hasn’t vocalised opposition to the Turkey-led attacks, quite the opposite… In the past, HTS repeatedly supported Turkish offensives against the SDF. It is unlikely that HTS is willing to support the demands of the SDF and AANES, particularly concerning Kurdish national rights. Aft...
“The West won the world not by the superiority of its ideas or values or religion (to which few members of other civilizations were converted) but rather by its superiority in applying organized violence. Westerners often forget this fact; non-Westerners never do.” —Samuel P. Huntington, The Clash of Civilisation and the Remaking of the World Order, 1996, p. 51