Since the US pulled its support from the Kurdish SDF in Syria, there hasn’t been much talk of them getting foreign aid, while Turkish forces continue to square up against them in the Syrian northeast.
Reports now are that Egypt is leading the charge among the Gulf Arab states to start providing “major military assistance” to the SDF, and doing so with an eye toward facilitating their fight with Turkey.
Egypt also gave the SDF a diplomatic office in Cairo, and a TV station. This has resulted in the UAE and Saudi Arabia both getting involved, and providing financial support for the Kurds.
This isn’t all coming out of a blue, of course. Turkey has angered these countries with its heavy support for Libya’s Government of National Accord (GNA), while Egypt and the others are backing Gen. Khalifa Hafter. In a way, this influx of arms for the Kurds can be seen as retaliation for Turkey sending aid to the GNA in Tripoli.
Egypt knows the jihadis very good, unlike the US who dropped kurdish Anti ISIL fighters for turkeys jihadi militias. Washingtons favorite jihadi Erdogan is dangerous, some people got it.
This overlooks the biggest cause of Egypt’s action against Turkey. We are so fixated on Erdogan, that we ignore Sisi.
Egypt has a dictator, who is a pure raw military dictator staying in power by killing. He has crushed internal politics. Those politics were organized around religion, because that is the only group allowed under the previous military dictators. Now Sisi is crushing religion too.
Erdogan for all his faults is supporting political opposition. Yes, that is religious based. So what? That is the only thing that could oppose a military dictator in that region, just as the Catholic Church was the center of opposition to the Polish Communist Party, and for the same reasons.
Egypt (aka Israel’s sock puppet) is trying to undercut Syria as being the only source of support for the Kurds now that the US threw them under the bus.
Erdogan’s natural gas grab off Crete probably angered Israel as well, while the U.S. is tiring of Turkish gamesmanship..
Everyone pile on for a Turkey roast.