The report analyses how Russia uses the so-called “Kurdish question” as a tool of political influence and propaganda in the Middle East. Drawing on research into media narratives, diplomatic activities, and information operations, the author demonstrates that Moscow does not view the Kurdish issue as an ethnic or national problem, but rather as an element of geopolitical manoeuvring that allows it to balance between Turkey, Syria, Iran, Iraq, and the West.
The study reveals that Russia employs a strategy of flexible engagement, using the Kurds at times as allies and at other times as a bargaining chip vis-à-vis other actors. The analysis shows that Russia’s information policy toward the Kurds combines elements of soft power, disinformation, and historical manipulation: Moscow portrays itself as a “defender of oppressed peoples,” while simultaneously instrumentalising narratives about the “West’s betrayal” of the Kurds.
The author emphasises that Russia’s actions toward the Kurds do not constitute a coherent, unified strategy, but instead form part of a broader policy of regional destabilisation, through which Moscow seeks to expand its influence by cultivating and managing controlled crises.
