‘Under the Olive Branch’: Understanding the Turkish Occupation of Afrin, North Syria. An Inductive Thematic Analysis of Anadolu Agency and Hawar News Agency’s Publications on Afrin
(2024) SIMZ41 20241Graduate School
- Abstract
- In March 2018, the Turkish armed forces, together with the Syrian National Army, seized control of the Syrian district of Afrin bordering Turkey as a result of the military offensive called 'Operation Olive Branch'. This takeover marked the beginning of Turkish military rule of Afrin, which has now extended over six years. Afrin’s case is a significant example of Turkey's broader foreign policy under the AKP rule to extend its influence across neighbouring regions through different interventions. Nevertheless, the Turkish interventions are often difficult to name or theoretically conceptualise. This thesis aims to identify an appropriate theoretical framework to understand the Turkish military interventions based on the case of Afrin. By... (More)
- In March 2018, the Turkish armed forces, together with the Syrian National Army, seized control of the Syrian district of Afrin bordering Turkey as a result of the military offensive called 'Operation Olive Branch'. This takeover marked the beginning of Turkish military rule of Afrin, which has now extended over six years. Afrin’s case is a significant example of Turkey's broader foreign policy under the AKP rule to extend its influence across neighbouring regions through different interventions. Nevertheless, the Turkish interventions are often difficult to name or theoretically conceptualise. This thesis aims to identify an appropriate theoretical framework to understand the Turkish military interventions based on the case of Afrin. By employing a case study and an inductive thematic analysis, the thesis analyses the Turkish state-run Anadolu Agency and the Kurdish PYD-affiliated Hawar News Agency's publications on the Turkish presence in Afrin. The study aims to understand the external reality in Afrin rather than the media representations. The findings reveal a significant transformation of essential aspects of life in Afrin, economic and political dependence on Turkey, constant instability and violence, and Turkey’s attempts to influence social constructions and culture. With the bottom-up approach, the theoretical concepts of Transformative Military Occupation and Neo-Colonialism emerge from the data analysis. The conclusions suggest that Afrin’s case fits well into the concept of transformative military occupation with neo-colonial patterns. The study suggests a new perspective on analysing Turkish military interventions and interconnections between transformative military occupations and neo-colonialism. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9175005
- author
- Ayvazyan, Milena LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- SIMZ41 20241
- year
- 2024
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- Turkish Occupation of Afrin, Operation Olive Branch, Turkish Interventionism, Transformative Military Occupation, Neo-Colonialism.
- language
- English
- id
- 9175005
- date added to LUP
- 2024-09-23 11:39:14
- date last changed
- 2024-09-23 11:39:14
@misc{9175005,
abstract = {{In March 2018, the Turkish armed forces, together with the Syrian National Army, seized control of the Syrian district of Afrin bordering Turkey as a result of the military offensive called 'Operation Olive Branch'. This takeover marked the beginning of Turkish military rule of Afrin, which has now extended over six years. Afrin’s case is a significant example of Turkey's broader foreign policy under the AKP rule to extend its influence across neighbouring regions through different interventions. Nevertheless, the Turkish interventions are often difficult to name or theoretically conceptualise. This thesis aims to identify an appropriate theoretical framework to understand the Turkish military interventions based on the case of Afrin. By employing a case study and an inductive thematic analysis, the thesis analyses the Turkish state-run Anadolu Agency and the Kurdish PYD-affiliated Hawar News Agency's publications on the Turkish presence in Afrin. The study aims to understand the external reality in Afrin rather than the media representations. The findings reveal a significant transformation of essential aspects of life in Afrin, economic and political dependence on Turkey, constant instability and violence, and Turkey’s attempts to influence social constructions and culture. With the bottom-up approach, the theoretical concepts of Transformative Military Occupation and Neo-Colonialism emerge from the data analysis. The conclusions suggest that Afrin’s case fits well into the concept of transformative military occupation with neo-colonial patterns. The study suggests a new perspective on analysing Turkish military interventions and interconnections between transformative military occupations and neo-colonialism.}},
author = {{Ayvazyan, Milena}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{‘Under the Olive Branch’: Understanding the Turkish Occupation of Afrin, North Syria. An Inductive Thematic Analysis of Anadolu Agency and Hawar News Agency’s Publications on Afrin}},
year = {{2024}},
}