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Syrian Kurds seek refuge in Turkey, after fleeing Islamic State  ​which for months laid siege to their hometown Kobani in 2014. Gail Orenstein/Zuma/Alamy

100 years of hope, struggle and betrayal

The Kurdish quest for freedom and independence has been long, dramatic and complicated. Here’s a potted history of the past century.

Latest issue: July-August 2020

The Kurds: Betrayed again

Poverty is not unusual in the oil-rich semi-autonomous region.  ​This woman begs in Erbil. Ton Koene/Alamy

Lorraine Mallinder gets inside the proto-petrostate of Iraqi Kurdistan.

Locals are still not allowed back to their neighbourhood in Sur, ravaged by the Turkish army and PKK militants in 2015, then flattened by bulldozers. Sertac Kayar/Reuters

Five years after bombarding the historic neighbourhood of Sur, the Turkish state still wants to keep Kurdish residents out. But it cannot stop people dreaming, hoping, resisting.

Illustration by Emma Peer

Richard Swift on the ambiguous figure managing the WHO’s pandemic response. 

Soldiers patrol Santiago, Chile. (February, 2020) Credit: Daniel Guzman Espinoza

In Chile, state security forces are increasingly detaining, beating and harassing the volunteers of community-led soup kitchens. Carole Concha Bell speaks to the organizers resisting this intimidation.

United Nations SDG Goals Annual Gathering, Opening Plenary on Day Two 21-23 March 2018, Photo Credit: Neil Baynes/Flickr

We are a third of the way towards 2030, the target date for the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Gary Rynhart and Jan Vandemoortele differ over how likely the Goals are to be achieved.

Why do churches still have £18 million invested in fossil fuels? Illustration by Andy Carter

Despite pledging to divest from fossil fuels in 2018, the Church of England regional dioceses continue to profit from companies including Shell, BP and Total. Frances Rankin of DeSmog investigates.

Past issues

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