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The conflicting interests of the US in Syria continued. Turkey hates the Kurds, but the US is using them to fight ISIS, despite them being terrorists in the eyes of their ally. This makes it sound like Erdogan is growing defiant and may provoke action by the US.

A more recent article posted by BBC News on Feb. 19th of Turkey's recent renewment of bombardment against the Kurds (People's Protection Units) inside Syria. The US and UN have both pressed Turkey to cease shelling the YPG and EU urged Turkey to stop shelling Syria.

In Feb. the United Nations demanded Turkey to open its borders to thousands of Syrian refugees. Erdogan responded "are you mocking us?" and accused the UN for overstepping its powers and to basically back off from the Syrian conflict.

Another issue Turkey is constantly dealing with, is the problem with the thousands of Syrian refugees at their border, in addition to the mini-civil war w/the Kurds, and its questionable oil business with ISIS. This article points out Erdogan's requests for the EU to deliver more funds to control the border situation. Different point of view from the other two articles I bookmarked this week.

Assad is pointing the finger at Turkey and Saudi Arabia. He claims that Erdogan's forces are heavily involved in Syria, and that they are "crossing a red line." I will be curious to follow the relations between these two countries.

ISIS had entered the town of Kobani, near the Syrian and Turkish border. This came a day after Turkish lawmakers had stated that they gave the government full power to deal with ISIS.

Now it seems ISIS has taken control of Kobani.

This is an opinion piece written by Cegniz Aktar, Senior Scholar at the Istanbul Policy Center, a director at the UN, and one of the leading advocates of Turkey's integration into the EU. In this piece, Aktar argues that Turkish politician "fearing the birth of a Kurdish nation-state more than anything but eager on the other hand to assert their regional supremacy, are ending up by alienating all three Kurdish communities" in Iraq, Syria, and Turkey. He is referring specifically to President Ankara making a speech comparing the PKK to ISIL, a few days after stating that the PKK should be fighting ISIL rather than Turkey. Even though the Turkish government has been an economic partner of the Iraqi Kurds, they have offered them no military support, and have also preventing Turkish Kurds from joining the fight against ISIL. The Turkish government's fear of a sovereign Kurdish state is leading to extremely poor diplomatic outcomes.

This is a news report by The Economist about the Turkish government's reaction to ISIL's assault on Kobane, a Kurdish town in Syria on the border of Turkey. This town is one of three enclaves that are governed by the Kurds. Turkey ceded the area to PKK control, but PKK leaders claim that by not assisting in the fight, the Turkish government is supporting ISIS, because it has a deep-rooted fear of any Kurdish autonomy.

A SENIOR commander of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), a rebel group that has been fighting for Kurdish self-rule inside Turkey since 1984, declared on...

Over 100,000 refugees of Kurdish background have fled war torn areas from Syria into Turkey. Criticisms of how Turkey is handling this new flow of foreigners.

The U.S continues air strikes against ISIS militants near border town of Kobane. This article talks about the military force that is taking place to protect the city of Kobane.

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu spoke at the World Economic Forum about the world's lack of assistance in the transition to democracy in the Middle East and how that ultimately facilitated the birth of ISIL. He explains how a number of EU states were able to maneuver into the democratic realm with the assistance and guidance of the EU, illuminating the idea that the Middle East should be no different. Davutoglu condemns the west for abandoning Middle Eastern states in their dire time of need. While countries around the world supported the Arab Spring, they did nothing to support or finance it to success. He says it would be wrong to correlate the birth of ISIL with Islam, explaining how Islamic communities are perfectly capable of embracing democratic systems. However, assistance in its implementation is vital.

Kurdish fighters in Aleppo decide to allie with the rebels and take over Sheikh Maskoud - a hilltop base and mosque. However, does this new alliance represent a shift for all Syrian Kurds? If so, the war is in for a dramatic shift

In this news article on the BBC, a PKK commander claims that while the both sides leadership desires to move forward with the peace process, the peace talks with Turkey are in danger of turning into conflict. Cemil Bayik, a PKK commander in the Qandil mountains, says that the Turkish government's treatment of Kobane shows that it still views the PKK and the Kurdish people as a bigger threat than ISIS. Meanwhile, a Turkish government official, Yasin Aktay, vice-chairman of the ruling AK Party, gave a statement saying that the PKK and the Kurds are using current time of instability to try to "upset the status quo", and try to set up a system of self-governance like Iraqi Kurdish groups. This article ends with dire warnings by both sides. Aktay warns that in the coming weeks and months, Turkey will actively try to prevent a "power grab" by the PKK in Kurdish towns. Meanwhile, Cemil Bayik says that unless the Turkish government changes its policies, the conflict between the Kurds and Turkey will continue, asserting that "if necessary the Kurds will fight against the Islamic State and the Turkish army."

A PKK commander tells the BBC that the peace process with Turkey is in danger of turning into conflict.