Does the Arab Spring serve as a critical juncture in the attention and the treatment of the Kurdish Question in the mainstream media in the UK and France? The role of the emergence of ISIS

Abstract

This article analyses the role of the Arab Spring in media attention to, and treatment of, the Kurdish Question, which refers to the lack of a homeland for more than 40 million Kurds. The study reveals the significance of historical events in transforming Western media attention and treatment, even in relation to some of the most neglected or marginalised political communities. The research focuses on two right-leaning newspapers (The Daily Mail and Le Figaro) and two left-leaning newspapers (The Independent and Le Monde) in the UK and France to examine whether the Arab Spring acted as a critical juncture in the media attention and treatment of the Kurdish Question in terms of both volume and framing.

This study examines a ten-year period, from 2006 to 2016, using quantitative and qualitative research methods, including discourse and comparative analysis, to assess whether the Arab Spring marked a turning point in the selected British and French newspapers, taking into account their different ideological leanings. The research suggests that the Arab Spring served as a critical juncture across the examined newspapers, and that the Battle of Kobani between Kurds and ISIS, as a legacy of the Arab Spring in Syria, led to a major transformation in media attention to, and treatment of, the Kurdish Question.