Why Erdogan does not have to fear sanctions

Berlin Sometimes he rides his bike through the groves in front of Kamishli. “I take a deep breath and I’m happy about the calm,” says Hozan B. on the phone a few days ago. Probably, he knows, bike tours and rest will soon no longer be possible. Because the Turkish head of state Recep Tayyip Erdogan is obsessed with the Kurds – and is trying to impress his electorate “at our expense”.

Kamishli is located in Syria’s north, which is dominated by the Kurds. In distant Ankara, Erdogan announced a week ago that he would occupy the entire region – although for reasons that will be discussed later he wants to have his troops stopped at the city limits of Kamishli. After eleven years of war in Syria, Erdogan is planning a massive invasion that will probably make peace impossible for years to come.