Dear Madam or Sir,

since 2014 the West has been supporting Kurdish fighters in Syria and Iraq. The benefit of Kurdish militia in the fight against ISIL is obvious. However, the Kurds in Iraq and Syria are not a homogeneous actor, but are individual groups that have different ideologies and contrary objectives. At the same time, the US support for Syrian Kurdish militia affects the relationship with Turkey. Given this backdrop: How effective is the cooperation between the West and the Kurds in relation to the risks involved? Our Working Paper by Philipp Biermann is now also available in English, and it has been updated to include the ramifications of Turkey's offensive in Afrin. You'll find the Paper here: https://www.baks.bund.de/sites/baks010/files/working_paper_2017_25.pdf

The Security Policy Working Papers are intended to stimulate debate and help explain current issues.

They can be found on our website: https://www.baks.bund.de/en/working-papers

We hope you enjoy reading them!

Best regards,

Dr. Karl-Heinz Kamp

President
Federal Academy for Security Policy