To the Editor:

Re “U.S. Watching While 2 Allies Clash in Syria” (front page, Jan. 23):

As the United States sits idle while the Turkish government proceeds with bombardment of the largely Kurdish canton of Afrin in northern Syria, we should all remember this: In contrast to Turkey, its neighbor to the north, Afrin, like other Kurdish regions in Syria, is based on a system of governance that enshrines the rights of women, ethnic minorities and grass-roots democracy, and it has never shown signs of aggression toward Turkey.

These values stand in stark contrast to the growing authoritarianism of the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is jailing tens of thousands of Turkish citizens in addition to razing entire Kurdish communities as he consolidates his dictatorial grip.

The Kurdish people have already sacrificed a generation of their young men and women in the fight to rid the world of the Islamic State. Moreover, hundreds of thousands of Syrians have died or have been displaced, including 200,000 who arrived over the years in the town of Afrin, where they found safety. Now thousands more lives are in danger because of a tyrannical and unprovoked attack by Mr. Erdogan on this peaceful region.

If the United States is to truly stand for democracy as it claims, it must be decisive in protecting Afrin as well as the other two Kurdish regions in Syria. To abandon the Kurdish people now is to once and for all forsake any historical claims America has as a defender of democracy.