The Regional Impacts on Turkey's Zero Problems with Neighbors Policy towards Iraqi Kurdistan

This book has two specific objectives. First is to examine the Kurdish regional impacts by looking at the engagement of non-state actors such as Kurds in Syria, the PKK, and ISIS; second is to analyze the challenges and the opportunities raised after 2011 for implementation of the ZPN policy towards Iraqi Kurdistan by Turkey.

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The combination of the war in Syria and the rise of ISIS has increased the role of non-state actors in the Middle East politics. This is of particular concern for Turkey, on account of its long-standing concerns regarding Kurdish nationalism, particularly after the Syrian war, which provides Kurds with a significant role in regional security affairs. This book aims to examine the regional impacts of the Turkish government’s Zero Policy with Neighbors (ZPN) in respect to Iraqi Kurdistan. This has been achieved through an analysis of the impact on the ZPN policy of the following non-state actors between 2011 and 2016: The Syrian Kurdish group represented by the Democratic Union Party (PYD), ISIS, and the Kurdistan Workers party (PKK).