that may be true.
Or
I remember when Trump was President the media were so upset for the Kurds they showed video of a military exercise and passed it of as Turkey attacking Kurds. Now, no big deal.
Erdogan has larger aspirations than the Kurds.
Turkey the only NATO member currently occupying an EU members country Cyprus. While the PKK deserves nothing but scorn Erdogan was flippantly allowing ISIS members from Europe to cross the border into Syria during that whole mess. It’s kind of odd thinking they’re a NATO member that at anytime could be overthrown within by some jihadist other than Erdogan . He came close to being overthrown during a coup in 2016.
The relationship between the different Kurdish groups is not entirely clear. The US has tended to downplay the relationships. The US armed the YPG, but US withdrew the support in 2017.
Turkey views the Kurdish groups as essentially the same organization.
PYD/YPG’s affiliation with PKK is clear. PYD/YPG was set up under the control of PKK terrorist organization in 2003. They share the same leadership cadres, organizational structure, strategies and tactics, military structure, propaganda tools, financial resources and training camps.
https://www.mfa.gov.tr/pkk.en.mfa
Alignments of factions within the Syrian Civil War keep changing.
US troops are still in Syria. The US has been trying to get more oil from Venezuela and Saudi Arabia; it would not surprise me increasing access Syrian oil is big factor in the tilt towards Turkey.
no we didn’t.
https://mepc.org/commentary/us-ypg-relationship-us-foreign-policy-future-kurds-syria-and-turkey
Okay, are there any figures on how much aid that goes to the Kurds?
Kurds are fighting in Syria using US-made weapons, while Turkey is using US-made weapons to blow up Kurdish targets. Life is good when you can profit from weapon sales to both sides in a conflict.
which Kurds? you seem intent on making them homogenous. let me guess, you agree with the turks view not america’s. just like you agree with putin’s propaganda. (or any other anti american theme)
1 Like
Feel free to break down the aid however you like. I see that the US has been using the Kurds to favor its objectives, but the objectives keep changing.
Will the US continue to arm Kurdish groups while at the same time supporting the Turkish attacks?
makes no difference. currently, the ypg and the turks have enemies in common. isis and asad. perhaps that will allow some momentum toward at least ambivalence. the ypg’s problem is their aspirations. trump tried to put them in a position acceptable to turkey. a level of autonomy within syria that could not threaten turkey. at the same time he attempted to get them to see they must differentiate themselves from the pkk. that was his “tough love”. unfortunately, while they did swear off terrorism, they still aspire to nationhood, which they must understand (and he tried to show them), will never happen. their aspirations do not allow them to renounce the pkk, and so leave them, for turkey, as terrorist abettors. we support them for what they have done, turkey won’t for what they have not done.
i do believe we can still convince turkey to limit their actions to the more militant pkk, if we try.
Or we could mind our own business.
2 Likes
defeating terrorists is our business.
You posted that.
yes i did. defeating isis, islamic jihad, the pkk, hezbollah, hamas, and the rest of that ilk are all in our interest. as they showed us on 9-11, they don’t need huge armies or nukes to damage us.
But not by jihadists. Just the opposite… by proponents of a secular government in Turkey… which characterized Turkey’s military up to that point.
You all literally cheered when Trump left the Kurds in Syria who fought ISIS for us to die at the hand of Erdogan and the Turks.
Exactly.
