On Wednesday morning, as Turkey made final preparations for a military offensive into northeast Syria, Ahval editor David Lepeska spoke to Erbil-based freelance journalist Wladimir van Wilgenberg.

Co-author of The Kurds of Northern Syria, published in August, van Wilgenberg discussed the Syrian Kurdish autonomous region as a possible democratic model, early signs of an ISIS resurgence and the possibility of ethnic cleansing against Syrian Kurds.