Between al-Qaeda and the PKK: The Future of the Kurds in Syria
The Jamestown Foundation cordially invites you to attend a discussion featuring Jamestown analyst Wladimir van Wilgenburg, a longtime observer of Kurdish affairs in the Middle East. Mr. Van Wilgenberg is a frequent writer on the Kurds for The Jamestown publications Terrorism Monitor and Militant Leadership Monitor where he has profiled the leaders of the various Kurdish groups inside Syria and northern Iraq. Earlier this month, he visited the Kurdish areas of eastern Syria and met with members of the various warring groups. Mr. Van Wilgenburg will focus his presentation on the ongoing fighting between al-Qaeda and the PKK and how the Syrian government in Damascus is using the PKK as a proxy to regain control over rebel-held areas.
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
11:00 A.M.–12:30 P.M.
7th Floor Conference Room
The Jamestown Foundation
1111 16th Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20036
*Click here to register for the event
Wladimir van Wilgenburg
Wladimir van Wilgenburg is a political analyst based in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq who specializes in Kurdish politics. He has written extensively for The Jamestown Foundation’s publications and other journals such as the Near East Quarterly and the World Affairs Journal. In addition to Jamestown, he currently writes for the Kurdish newspaper Rudaw and was the co-author of the Henri Jackson Society report Unity or PYD Power Play? Syrian Kurdish Dynamics After the Erbil Agreement. Van Wilgenburg provides commentary and advice to a variety of media outlets, NGOs and think tanks.
In 2011, van Wilgenburg received a master’s degree from the University of Utrecht’s Conflict Studies program, writing his thesis on Kirkuk’s Arab political spectrum, based on first-hand research in Iraq. He is currently enrolled in the University of Exeter’s Kurdish Studies master’s program.
**For more information, please direct questions to Caitlin Buckley at
(202) 483-8888, or e-mail pubs@jamestown.org.
