Blog Post Three
John McCall
Dr. Jenkins
Intro to American Government and Politics
April 14, 2022
Blog Post Three
The issue facing the Kurds focused on in this blog post is the dire situation they have been left in since 2019, when American President Trump suddenly ordered the withdraw of military forces from Syria. He justified the decision by declaring mission accomplished, the mission being to defeat ISIS forces in that region. That justification was questioned by many and even if total victory was achieved there were many arguing it would be better to remain there in order to build up the pieces and ensure stability before leaving. The particular region of Syria was the northern border it shares with Turkey. To the Kurdish people, this area, which is part of the unofficial “Kurdistan,” is called Rojava. But why are they there to begin with, why is Turkey interested in the region, and why is it filled with violence? Kurdistan is the region where the vast majority of the Kurdish people live. It is not a country of its own but rather a Kurdish territory that does not appear on maps; it is part of the nations Turkey, Syria, Iraq, and Iran. This issue focuses on the Turkish-Syrian border. In 2011 Syria erupted into violence, sparked by protests against the violent and authoritarian regime of their President since 2000, Bashar al-Assad. It became a civil war between basically pro and anti-Assad groups. As the civil war went on, and internationally it looked like Assad had his hands full, the terrorist group ISIS violently stormed into Syria, further complicating the violence and the civil war. One particular region of Syria that ISIS stormed was Rojava, the part filled with Kurds.
Many in Syria and abroad became impressed with how well the Syrian Kurds fought against ISIS. More than just holding their ground, the Kurds allied with non-Kurdish forces in the area and formed the Syrian Democratic Forces, also known as the SDF. The SDF pushed the ISIS invaders further and further southward from Rojava and hence began living in more Syrian territory than before. A large factor in the Kurdish victories over ISIS was that they were receiving arms and other assistance from the American military, also conducting warfare against ISIS in that region. By 2019 the region of Rojava was arguably the most secure place in Syria. We must now look to Turkey and what has been going on with their interest and worry over the Kurds in Rojava. Turkey’s leader President Erdogan, very much an authoritarian like Assad, has been accused of trying to ethnically cleanse Turkey of Kurds and has never shown them an act of goodwill. It is important to know however that Erdogan is on much better terms with the western nations than Assad is, and Turkey is uniquely considered both a European and Middle Eastern country. A member of NATO with a respected military, Turkey is not a country to be trifled with. Nonetheless, Erdogan’s hostile measures against the Kurds within Turkey has earned him criticism and condemnation abroad. But as for the Kurds in Rojava and along the Turkish-Syrian border, Erdogan’s views of them come largely from a Kurdish organization within Turkey. This organization is the Kurdistan Workers Party, also known as the PKK. Labeled a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States, and the European Union, the PKK is a militant group of guerillas who have been fighting with Erdogan’s government for years for more Kurdish autonomy. That they are named the “Kurdistan” Workers Party and not the Kurdish Workers Party says something of their goals.
Prior to 2019 Erdogan had talked quite a lot about his desire for Turkey and its military to go to their border with Syria, cross over a little bit, and establish a buffer zone that he repeatedly called a “safe zone.” Erdogan’s view is basically this, that the Kurds in Turkey are all affiliated with the PKK in some capacity and those in Rojava are terrorists. He has frequently used the word terrorist when referring to the Kurds, even though most view those in Rojava as simply decent people fighting ISIS and posing no legitimate threat to Turkey at all. But to Erdogan the Kurds there were a threat in need of removal. To him one could only relax after he could establish his “safe zone.” Another important thing to note is that Turkey is an ally of the United States and President Trump and President Erdogan purported to be friends. Prior to becoming President, Trump had done business in Turkey. And so, as the American backed SDF forces pushed ISIS further and further back from Rojava and a few other areas of Syria, by the time 2019 rolled around the President felt that their mission had been completed. He suddenly and shockingly ordered the withdrawal of American forces from Syria. Less than a week after the President’s announcement, Turkey launched an invasion of northern Syria and began attacking the Kurds there. The impact this had on those Kurds was in no way positive and in multiple ways negative. They felt betrayed, embittered, abandoned. They relied very much on the aid they received from the Americans and many American generals lauded the Kurds for the service they performed against ISIS, even expressing regret and disagreement at the Commander in Chief’s decision. I will not go into the details and debates on whether or not it was right to withdraw, but I will say that to all the Kurds and many within the United States, it was considered a very bad move and a stab in the back to a key ally. The Kurds were left on their own by an ally they depended on.
Solutions I believe in would be for Turkey to withdraw its forces from Syria; they had no legitimate reason to invade in my view. I believe Erdogan repeatedly exaggerated his claim that Kurds were terrorists and all those in Turkey were with the PKK in order to justify his harsh actions and paint them as the bad guys. Kurds in Syria have since turned to its authoritarian leader, Bashar al-Assad for help out of desperation. It is interesting that Syria, Turkey, the Kurds, and the United States all view ISIS as an enemy, but the Kurds are viewed a little differently. I do not believe international bodies like the United Nations can do much on the matter. They did very little during the Syrian Civil War and Turkey’s invasion of northern Syria. The Kurds in Rojava, and all other parts of “Kurdistan,” simply need to be treated with respect by the governments of the four nations they live in, and I have find it strange how so many are opposed to granting them that respect.
https://www.npr.org/2019/10/14/770133487/kurds-align-with-syria-after-u-s-withdrawal
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-49960973
https://origins.osu.edu/article/kurds-stateless-turkey-syria-iraq-iran?language_content_entity=en