For a time it seemed that the United States, too, was on our side. American officials spoke of diplomatic recognition of Syrian democrats, serious investment in reconstruction and training the 30,000 Syrian democratic soldiers so that they could serve as a professional security force.

Such promises were greeted with hope and joy in places like Afrin, Manbej and Qamishli.

A strong American-Syrian relationship meant that Syria would no longer be a rogue state, or turn into the failed state that it threatened to become, but a state that would have productive relationships with the United States, Europe, Arab countries and even Turkey.

But these dreams of a new Syria were transformed into a nightmare by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s pro-jihadist policies.

Rather than working with the Syrian Democratic Forces, Turkey is attacking us. Rather than celebrating the defeat of the Islamic State with us, Turkey is killing the same soldiers who secured its Syrian border against the Islamic State. Rather than keeping us focused on protecting our oil fields from falling into Russian hands, Turkey is distracting us and forcing our troops to be dispatched to Afrin.

Why is Turkey doing this? Because it insists that Syrian Kurds are an offshoot of the P.K.K., a Kurdish party in Turkey that is engaged in a war for more Kurdish rights. While many Kurdish leaders, including me, have stated many times that we and the P.K.K. are different organizations, with different leadership, Turkey refuses to believe us. They also refuse to believe the United States, which has said the same.

Although the Islamic State poses a threat to everyone in the free world, including the United States, the Syrian Democratic Forces never asked the United States to fight our war. Our young women and men have gone bravely to the front lines to fight this genocidal group. We have built our own defense units, our own political institutions and governing bodies to establish pockets of freedom and democracy in a country being torn apart.