Turkish Political and Military Involvement in Iraq and Syria
| Název práce v češtině: | Politické a vojenské zapojení Turecka v Iráku a Sýrii |
|---|---|
| Název v anglickém jazyce: | Turkish Political and Military Involvement in Iraq and Syria |
| Klíčová slova: | Turecko, zapojení, armáda, Irák, Sýrie |
| Klíčová slova anglicky: | Turkey, involvement, military, Iraq, Syria |
| Akademický rok vypsání: | 2021/2022 |
| Typ práce: | bakalářská práce |
| Jazyk práce: | angličtina |
| Ústav: | Katedra politologie (23-KP) |
| Vedoucí / školitel: | doc. Martin Riegl, Ph.D. |
| Řešitel: | skrytý - zadáno vedoucím/školitelem |
| Datum přihlášení: | 29.09.2022 |
| Datum zadání: | 29.09.2022 |
| Datum a čas obhajoby: | 13.09.2023 07:00 |
| Místo konání obhajoby: | Areál Jinonice, B329, 329, seminární místnost IPS |
| Datum odevzdání elektronické podoby: | 01.08.2023 |
| Datum proběhlé obhajoby: | 13.09.2023 |
| Oponenti: | Mgr. Bohumil Doboš, Ph.D. |
| Zásady pro vypracování |
| Topic Characteristics:
Turkey is a significant regional power in the Middle East. Despite its political and economic power, stemming from the region’s dynamics, it has been a scene for internal conflict for over four decades. Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) has been waging unconventional warfare against the Turkish State to accomplish its aim of establishing an independent Kurdistan. As it was defeated militarily after a series of military campaigns targeting the PKK camps located both within and outside of Turkey and the capture of its leader, Abdullah Öcalan, PKK retreated to Iraq and Syria to preserve itself. Aware of this, the Turkish government decided to strike the final blow through politics and diplomacy under the premiership of Erdoğan in 2013. After a tremendous failure of the Peace Process between the government and the PKK, Turkey returned to military means to fight PKK and waged a series of military operations in Iraq and Syria to counter the group. There are multiple papers about Turkish foreign policy on the basis of Iraq and Syria in academia. But there is none that combines Turkish policy towards Iraq and Syria, although the Turkish government has the same motivation behind its presence in these countries. Therefore, I would like to approach this topic comprehensively by including both countries since one needs to know about both of them to understand the Turkish understanding of the Middle Eastern geopolitics and approach to these two neighboring countries. Hypotheses: 1. Turkish presence in Iraq and Syria is a proactive measure to preserve its territorial integrity. 2. Demographic dynamics of Turkey are a decisive factor in Turkish Middle East policy. 3. A key motivation for Turkish presence in Iraq and Syria is to counter Russian and Iranian influence at its doorstep. 4. Recent military operations in Syria is a move to increase the domestic popularity of the current government. Methodology: This will be a qualitative thesis as I will analyze the acts of Turkey in these two countries to view the Turkish approach to Middle Eastern geopolitics. Two IR theories will be predominant throughout my thesis. These are realism and constructivism. Realism is the central theory in geopolitics. Apart from realism, I find constructivism pretty related to my topic as the basis of the Kurdish issue, that gave rise to PKK is about identity. In this sense, realism and constructivism will be essential to analyse the Turkish mindset in its Middle Eastern policy and approach to Iraq and Syria. Possible Limitations: There are three possible limitations that I can encounter whilst work on my thesis. First of all, the topic of the thesis is a relatively recent one which might make it harder for me to find relative sources on a specific event or an actor. Second, both state and non-state actors I will be dealing with are corrupted to a certain extent. This might make it challenging to access objective information. Last, the Middle East is the scene for covert operations both militarily and non-militarily. Hence there might be classified documents that could include vital information that can change my approach and analysis. But this is a quite unlikely scenario, that would not be as challenging as the first two concerns of mine. |
| Seznam odborné literatury |
| Aziz, S., & Cottey, A. (2021). The Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga: Military Reform and nation-building in a divided polity. Defence Studies, 21(2), 226–241. https://doi.org/10.1080/14702436.2021.1888644
Bakeer , A. (2020, March 26). The fight for Syria's skies: Turkey challenges Russia with new drone doctrine. Middle East Institute. Retrieved July 31, 2022, from https://www.mei.edu/publications/fight-syrias-skies-turkey-challenges-russia-new-drone-doctrine Bakir, A. (2021, August 24). Mapping the rise of Turkey's hard power. New Lines Institute. Retrieved July 13, 2022, from https://newlinesinstitute.org/turkey/mapping-the-rise-of-turkeys-hard-power/ Brunaccioni, D. (2021, December 21). Why Washington finds foothold in Kurdistan. Washington Kurdish Institute. Retrieved July 13, 2022, from https://dckurd.org/2021/12/21/why-washington-finds-foothold-in-kurdistan/ Corradi, E. (2022). The Kurdish Protection Units in northern Syria: A deviant case of peaceful cohabitation between foreign fighters and local civilians? Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1080/1057610x.2022.2091038 Davison, J. (2022, August 1). Factbox: Iraq's competing Shi'ite groups. Reuters. Retrieved August 1, 2022, from https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/iraqs-competing-shiite-groups-2022-08-01/ Engel, P. (2016, August 23). Obama reportedly declined to enforce red line in Syria after Iran threatened to back out of nuclear deal. Business Insider. Retrieved July 31, 2022, from https://www.businessinsider.com/obama-red-line-syria-iran-2016-8 Goff-Taylor, M. (2017, September). Why Turkey needs Russia. Wilson Center. Retrieved August 13, 2022, from https://www.wilsoncenter.org/publication/why-turkey-needs-russia Yeşiltaş, M., & Kardaş, T. (2018). Introduction: The phenomenon of non-state armed actors and patterns of violent geopolitics in the Middle East. Non-State Armed Actors in the Middle East, 3–20. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-55287-3_1 Ülgen, S. (2021, July 26). Redefining the u.s.-turkey relationship. Carnegie Europe. Retrieved September 26, 2022, from https://carnegieeurope.eu/2021/07/26/redefining-u.s.-turkey-relationship-pub-85016 |
| Předběžná náplň práce |
| 1. Introduction
2. Methodology 3. Literature Review 4. Historical background of the Turkish – PKK Conflict 5. Involvement in Iraq a. Iraqi Kurdistan b. Iraq Proper 6. Involvement in Syria a. Support to Opposition Groups b. Direct Involvement 7. Conclusion |
| Předběžná náplň práce v anglickém jazyce |
| 1. Introduction
2. Methodology 3. Literature Review 4. Historical background of the Turkish – PKK Conflict 5. Involvement in Iraq a. Iraqi Kurdistan b. Iraq Proper 6. Involvement in Syria a. Support to Opposition Groups b. Direct Involvement 7. Conclusion |