Meetings last month between representatives of Iraq's federal government in Baghdad and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in Erbil failed to produce any clear resolutions of their ongoing differences.

When Americans firmly said “no” to a possible Turkish incursion in northeastern Syria, President Tayyip Erdogan bowed.

Last week Washington managed to prevent a large-scale Turkish incursion into Syria. Turkey had tens of thousands of troops by the border at the ready. Firebrand president Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that an invasion was imminent East of the Euphrates in order to carve out a 30 to 40-kilometre safe zone deep into Syrian territory, which would be free of the US-backed Kurdish People’s Protection Units, or YPG.

Turkey’s reception of the first batch of the S-400 strategic air defense systems from Russia last month was loaded with symbolism that offers clues on why Ankara made the controversial purchase and the threat perception that prompted the move. In reverse order of importance, they could be listed as follows:

On July 17, Turkey was shaken by news of the assassination of a Turkish diplomat on duty abroad. The assassination may signal the opening of a new phase in the bloody 35-year-old conflict between Turkey and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which Turkey — along with several Western powers, including the United States — considers a terrorist organization.

Checking the YPG’s ascendance in Syria could bring the PKK back to the negotiating table, ultimately making Turkey more amenable to Kurdish enclaves across the border.

A political expert believes the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) cannot resist Turkey presence in the Kurdish Region and the presence of Turkey, in the region, is necessary to balance the presence of the forces of the PKK and therefore the government in Erbil welcomes Turkey operation in the region.

Turkey’s National Security Council said in a statement last week that a cross-border military crackdown on the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in the Hakurk region of northern Iraq was “continuing successfully.” The statement stressed that operations Claw-1 and Claw-2, which began in late May and mid-July, respectively, would continue until Hakurk is “fully cleansed” of the PKK.

News that tourists from Iraqi Kurdistan had been attacked in Turkey’s northern province of Trabzon this month and deported for wearing scarves and clothes bearing emblems of Kurdistan may have given the impression of high tension between Turkey and the Kurdistan Regional Government that controls the Kurdish north of Iraq.

Since the renewal of hostilities between the Turkish government and Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) forces in mid-2015, following a two-year ceasefire, the conflict has claimed around 4,500 lives, adding to approximately 40,000 casualties since the 1980s. Although the PKK bears responsibility for breaking the ceasefire, Turkey has since pursued an escalating campaign of offensive military operations against Kurdish groups in Turkey and neighbouring Iraq and Syria. Ankara has also re-instituted oppressive security controls targeting Kurds and renewed repression of Kurdish language, culture and identity.

As he cosies up to Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, and picks fights with Europe and the United States, it can be hard to recall that Recep Tayyip Erdogan was once the West’s poster boy for Islamic democracy.

Tensions between NATO allies Turkey and the United States continue to simmer this week as Ankara uses the threat of an incursion into Syria and Washington weighs economic sanctions to pressure each other to step back from the brink of a diplomatic crisis.

In the town of Ain Issa, in Syria’s northeastern governorate of Raqqa, the general council of the self-administration for northern and eastern Syria approved June 23 the Self-Defense Duty Law in northern Syria. The council also gave the committees for self-defense the authority to determine the age of recruits within their areas of control. 

The United States has suspended Turkey’s participation in the program to build and fly the latest generation F-35 fighter jets and could impose economic sanctions on top, but Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has refused to back down and abandon the purchase of Russian S-400 missiles.

<p style="text-align: left;">Since the battles against the Islamic State (IS) in Baghouz ended in March, several factors have indicated the Kurdish-led autonomous administration in northeast Syria is garnering international political support.</p>