User:Tqdeneef/Evaluate an Article

Which article are you evaluating?
2018 Syrian-Turkish border clashes

Why you have chosen this article to evaluate?
This article relates to my study course (History: Middle East) and besides, I find the topic itself interesting. I have chosen a more specific, shorter article as to make the evaluation more concise and because bigger articles with a long history of edits and improvements are generally already hard to critique.

Evaluate the article

 * The lead section includes an introductory sentence that concisely and clearly describes the article's topic.


 * As for its flaws, it does not include a brief description of the article's major sections, and the closing sentence "Turkey views the YPG as an extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has been waging an insurgency in Turkey for over 40 years." is information that is not present in the article. This information and its context is quite controversial, and to name it in the lead section without elaborating on it in the background section, in my opinion, does not do the full scope of this topic any justice.


 * The content is relevant, up-to-date and concise. The background and aftermath sections could potentially have more information, but it does not miss any information critical to the article.
 * The article's tone is neutral and balanced and does not persuade the reader to favour one position or the other. Perhaps the author(s) were slightly too careful with the controversial nature of this article, as the article mostly describes technical details, dates, locations etc. and more focus could be given to different viewpoints, opinions and perspectives.
 * I believe all sources are relevant and trustworthy. There is a notable lack of literature and/or peer-reviewed sources, but as this article is mostly about a series of events, the news articles are sufficient. If changes are made to this article and more background/aftermath information is posted about the wider Syrian civil war or Rojava conflict, a plethora of different peer-reviewed sources and literature is available to back up any claims made.
 * The article could definitely do with more images/media, as, apart from a map and a image of army patrols, this article lacks images of the effect these clashes had on the region. More images could be included showing, for example, affected villages, political meetings, armed forces etc. I understand that some of those images could be too graphic to show, but I suspect that non-violent/graphic images could be found.
 * This article's Talk page is quite interesting, as it states that "There is a move discussion in progress", which redirects to a different talk page on the wider foreign relations of Rojava. The conclusion of the requested move is that all articles with different names for North-Eastern Syria have been changed as to refer to this region as "Rojava". This means that the article's "official" name is now "2018 Rojava border clashes", but this page redirects to the original article.
 * In conclusion, this article is well-made, all essential information and sources are provided, the general structure of the article is coherent and the information is relevant an up-to-date. The only thing that could be improved is more information on the background and aftermath of the clashes, but separate articles are linked if someone would want to know more about this topic.