"A Crisis in Kurdistan- Unending Conflict in the Middle East" by A.J. P.

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It is no small matter that the Middle East is engulfed in the flames of war and anarchy. For years, the Kurdish people have fought relentlessly against all odds to earn their independence. The Kurdish inhabited region is made up of areas in southeastern Turkey,  northern Iraq and Syria, as well as parts of Iran and Armenia. In December 2018, the Turkish government announced that it planned to begin a formal operation against the Kurds in northern Syria. This was met with little opposition from the United Nations, however the United States imposed substantial trade sanctions on Turkey the following January. It was near this same time that President Trump also announced the withdrawal of US troops from Syria. Expectedly and inevitably, the Turkish soon began a military offensive, codenamed “Operation Peace Spring” into northern Syria. The goal of the operation was to swiftly go in and occupy 30 kilometers of a “buffer zone” in between Turkey and Syria, something some would call an act of war. Many may question Turkey’s justification to wage war against the Kurds, but they were known to the Turkish government to be the cause of terrorism and civil unrest within their borders.  Turkey launched its offensive in an attempt to drive out the formerly  US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF, whom they viewed as a terrorist organization. The SDF also have strong ties with the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, a group that has fought for autonomy in eastern Turkey for quite some time, causing about 40,000 deaths during an insurgency campaign against Turkey that has spanned four decades. Without the U.S. Military there to protect them, the Kurds are quite outmatched by a superior Turkish force. Was it the right move to withdraw U.S. Troops from Syria? Would an American presence in the region cause the Turks to halt their advance? 

It can be pointed out that the United States only truly had troops in the region to combat Islamic-State terrorists, rather than protect the Kurds from an angered Turkish government. At the same time the Turkish are fighting off Kurdish terrorists, the Kurds had to fend off forces of the Islamic State. With the recent assassination of Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, The U.S. lacks any true justification to remain stationed in the region, and the Kurds are  mostly ridden of the former threat posed by the Islamic State. The only realistic event that could keep U.S. troops in Syria would be a possible intervention by the Russians, who support the Turks in fighting off the Kurds, and even then U.S. intervention may not occur. Going off of this reasoning, it was entirely the correct decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria. In the end, the Kurds were causing just as many problems for the Turkish as the Islamic State was causing for them.
There is more to the crisis in Kurdistan than just the Turkish Invasion, however. The Kurds in Iraq are also yet to win their independence. In Iraq, the Kurds did manage to establish an autonomous state and regional government, but they are far from true independence. Even still, this is the only time the Kurds have managed to set up a stable government of their own, albeit be within a federal state. Regarding this, the Kurdish situation here is far from peaceful. The Turkish have issued reports of Kurdish attacks on their military bases in northern Iraq.

The Kurdish question still stands for the United States. The Kurds may have been an ally to the US in the war against ISIS, but they are guilty of large scale terror operations happening in Turkey and Iraq. Needless to say, If a fully independent kurdish nation ever does stand in Syria, Iraq, or Turkey, an Increase in terrorism by Kurdish separatists should be anticipated.





Works Cited

“Conflict Between Turkey and Armed Kurdish Groups | Global Conflict Tracker.” Council on Foreign Relations, Council on Foreign Relations, 2019, www.cfr.org/interactive/global-conflict-tracker/conflict/conflict-between-turkey-and-armed-kurdish-groups.

Shesgreen, Deirdre, and Kim Hjelmgaard. “Turkey's Leader Rebuffs US Call for Syria Cease-Fire, Says He'll Meet Pence, Not Just Trump.” USA Today, Gannett Satellite Information Network, 16 Oct. 2019, www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2019/10/16/trump-faces-chaos-backlash-syria-turkey-rebuffs-ceasefire/3993179002/.

“Iraqi Kurdistan Profile.” BBC News, BBC, 25 Apr. 2018, www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-28147263.

Subramanian, Courtney, et al. “What We Know: Turkey's Offensive in Syria.” USA Today, Gannett Satellite Information Network, 14 Oct. 2019, www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2019/10/14/turkeys-syria-offensive-what-we-know-middle-east-crisis/3974498002/.

Comments

  1. AnonymousNovember 18, 2019 at 7:04 AM

    I do not think it was bad to pull the troops out of Syria at this time. I agree that the United States does not have a lot of need to put troops in this area since this recent killing of the Islamic State leader. I do not think they we should have to help the Kurdish because their main conflict is not dealing with the Islamic State anymore but rather Turkey. If the Kurdish began to be a wide-scale or world-wide terrorist group, then the U.S. would have to intervene against them but if the Kurdish were to just attack areas like Turkey and Iraq then i do not the U.S. would be interested in intervening to stop them. I believe the U.S. is trying to become a "neutral" part of this conflict and they will only get involved if it starts impacting them more and more.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousNovember 18, 2019 at 8:38 PM

    Pulling U.S. troops out of Syria was the right move. Many people need to realize that the United States cannot continue to maintain troops in regions in the Middle East for decades at a time. Troops still in the Middle East have been there since the early 2000s during the Iraq War. It is not the United States' job to be the enforcer of the world. If the job is done and troops are no longer needed, they shouldn't have to stay there for years to follow. It is wise to keep few troops in certain locations where possible conflict may arise. However, if large scale conflict does arise then troops can be redeployed to said location. In addition, it is the right choice to no longer support the Kurds in their fight against the Turkish forces. While they may have supported the fight against the Islamic State, it is no longer right to continue to support them while they are engaging in terrorist acts against the Turks.

    ReplyDelete

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