On Friday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan issued another vociferous anti-Kurdish speech, vowing Turkey would never allow the YPG to establish an independent state in northwestern Syria. Since then, reports are emerging that Erdogan has ordered the Turkish military to send troops into Syria to fight against the Kurds.
If true, the move would be hugely controversial, as the Kurdish YPG are being openly backed by the US in their fights against ISIS. Having Turkey, itself allied with the US, attacking the YPG and trying to carve out a “buffer zone” from Kurdish territory would be seen as bolstering ISIS.
The real opposition is likely to come from the Turkish military itself, however, and there are reports that Gen. Ozel, the Turkish military Chief of Staff, has delayed previous directives to intervene in Syria, citing questions about international law. The Erdogan government has been lobbying them heavily ever since, trying to convince them to be on board for the deployment.
Turkish policy is Syria has been built around hostility toward the Kurds from the start, backing the rebellion in Syria against former ally Assad in hopes that a Sunni Arab nationalist government would tamp down on Kurdish secessionist ambitions better. This failed, creating a de facto Kurdish state in the northwest, and two Islamist factions along the Turkish border as well.
Erdogan, it seems, hasn’t learned from his mistakes, and is trying to double down on the move hoping to weaken the Kurds again. The YPG has ties to Turkish Kurdish groups that are considered terrorist organizations, so it is unsurprising Turkey is alarmed by their growth.
But Turkish officials are trying to spin this as backing the Free Syrian Army (FSA), a secular rebel faction openly allied with the YPG and against ISIS, and the move is inevitably going to benefit ISIS, adding to complaints that Turkish policy is de facto pro-ISIS.
Turkey is firmly pro-ISIS and their forces should be turned to dust by US airstrikes should they intereve for ISIS aagainst the Kurds. If the Turkish military knows what's good for their country they'll coup the Islamist freak Erdogan before its too late.
So this lunatic doesn't like the Kurds, he doesn't like the Syrians. In the ends what does he want?
So this lunatic doesn't like the Kurds, he doesn't like the Syrians. In the end what does he want?
To be the next Sultan of the New Ottoman Empire.
He says he wants Assad gone. So do we.
He says he wants a replacement for Assad that does not include a Kurdish state on his border. That is because Turkey has been fighting Kurdish terrorist across that border for thirty years.
He may be a lunatic (or not) but it isn't because of this.
There are far too many sides in Syria, and the US does not like most of them either.
The Kurds are the latest magical solution our neocons offer to the mess they've made in the Middle East. Like all their other magical solutions, it is a lie.
There is no one "Kurds." They are divided against themselves five or six major ways, and include some very unsavory characters. Erdogan is upset about the particular Kurds we also agreed are terrorists. We helped the Turks capture their leader.
If you liked WMD as an excuse, then you'll love Kurds as a solution. Being popular among serious pundits in DC is proof positive it is a bad idea.
Erdogan wants the Kurds gone sooner than he wants Assad out of the way.
This is the same Erdogan who stands up for Palestinian self-determination. Did you know that back when the PKK was engaged in armed insurrection (call it terrorism, if you wish), that the Kurdish languge was effectively banned? Speaking Kurdish in public would land you in problems. Even the Israelis did not go that far.
Secondly, yes, there are many, many Kurdish factions. It isn't surprising that Erdogan is rather cushy with the KDP, as the Barzani family is as corrupt and elitist as Erdogan is. The PYD is a different matter altogether, as their secular, pluralist stance is ideologically at odds with the increasingly Islamist position taken by the AKP.
In short, that the PYD's fighting branches are popular among DC pundits does not necessarily imply that (morally or materially) supporting them is a poor idea. If anything, the stated principles of the PYD are something that ought to be commended: de-centralised rule, pluralism, secularity.
in iraq the kurds have a defacto state and are expanding their territory.
anyone can see we are quickly moving towards the day when it will be dejure
when turkey became a country out of an empire they did quite a bit of horrible things to ensure a turkish population.
im sure they will be willing to do far worse than back isis to keep kurdistan from forming out of iraq and syria, since they believe, as i do, that the kurd in turkey will join kurdistan and take part of turkey with them.
Turkey should be kicked out of the EU and the UN if it allows Erdogan to move troops to so he can have his dreams of a Neo Ottoman Empire by cleansing the Kurds.
Beautifully put. Jason Ditz loves anything anti Turkish.
If he can’t find one he spins it.
Why do no news website that report these latest salvos by Turkey — “we will not accept a Kurdish state on our borders” — neglect reporting the PYD’s repeated rejection of aiming to establish a separate state. We are only getting to hear the rhetoric from one side. Journalists call this framing, and it’s a very dubious way of misleading the publish without having to publish lies.
If Turkish forces move I across the border they would be moving into Syrian, not Kurdish territory, just viewed from a legal standpoint (as if anyone fighting on the imperialist/separatist side give a ddamn about such niceties as respect for borders and sovreignty).
Thanks, Mark, the imperialist rationale -such as it is at this late date – is seldom explained around here by a true believer. Fareed Zakaria would probably be happy to host you on CNN to reach a larger audience with your vital message.
While is wait the 18 hours that it takes for my comments to appear when Pudenda Piuchi is on the job
[moderator’s note: No need to worry about waiting any more. Bye! – TLK]
There is no "anti Turkish or anti Turk" rhetoric here, but there is an anti Erdogan regime the one and only which bound by his contract to NATO wanting to destroy nations around turkey for Erdogan regime to become the ruler of the Middle East, in that regard, Erdogan following the salafis, Wahhabis and Saudis Islamic fascist whom been investing in Turkish politics for extension of their regimes and falsified Islamic system, Erdogan, Israel, Europe far right and neo fascism, the usg and turkey are part of the creation of Isis, Erdogan regime played the role of supplying weapon and all other logistic to Isis when they invaded northern Iraq, you should ask yourself where did they got all that brand new Toyota trucks to drive into northern Iraq, you should ask yourself where do they get their weapon and etc, one year ago.
This is extraordinary, Erdogan has lost his marble, what on earth is going on with Turks? Are they behind the nihilist ISL? It seems very likely that Erdogan has been aiding this terrorist sub humans. The Syrian Kurds has been chasing and kicking ISL murderers for the last three years. And yet Erdogan would like to punish them for that. The West shouldn't allow this idiot to further fuel the area, Kurds have already suffered enough.