Publication

This paper focuses on the implications of the US-Turkey plan to work together to clear ISIS from parts of northern Syria to create a "buffer-zone", including what it might mean for the proposed Qatar-Turkey gas pipeline. The author first examines 1) Turkish President Erdogan’s plans for the Qatar-Turkey pipeline and how they could be affected by the creation of a Kurdish autonomous region in Syria; and 2) the role that control over energy supplies might be playing in the Syrian civil war. She then outlines some of the consequences of the US-Turkey plan, suggesting it could lead to 1) the genocide of Christians and other minorities in Syria; 2) the undermining of US and NATO legitimacy as well as US-Kurdish relations; 3) the creation of a safe haven for jihadists; and 4) China, Russia, Iran being drawn further into the Syrian conflict.