Photo: Stephen ElliottOnly in Nashville: A Nashville Party Barge full of bachelorettes dancing to V.I.C.’s “Wobble” is drowned out by an anti-genocide protest outside the downtown federal courthouse.

That's where a group of Kurds and supporters gathered Friday afternoon to protest President Trump’s decision to withdraw American troops from Syria, where they long served alongside Kurdish allies. The announced withdrawal has already spurred attacks from the Turkish regime, and local Kurds have been asking the White House to reverse the decision all week.

Nashville is home to the largest American Kurdish population, and though most local Kurds come from Iraqi Kurdistan, outcry has been widespread. Photo: Stephen Elliott

“Kurds, it’s like one full body: If one part hurts, the whole body hurt,” said Tabeer Sindi, who moved to Nashville from Iraqi Kurdistan in the 1990s. “We’re trying to prevent another Kurdish genocide. For the past few days, we’ve received a tremendous amount of support from our fellow Americans, [but] it’s been a really tough week for us.”

Some local Kurds do come from the part of Kurdistan along the Syrian-Turkish border where military action is currently underway.

Dilgesh Abraham said he has been in contact with his family in Qamishli along the border almost hourly, and that there have been attacks in their neighborhood.

“We were fighting shoulder to shoulder together, and now we feel betrayed,” Abraham said. “We really need U.S. help.”

It wasn’t just Kurds at the Friday protest, though. Pam Hanners drove to Nashville from Columbia, Tenn., with her husband for the protest.

“I’m just appalled that people that stood with us and fought with our soldiers and died with our soldiers are being left undefended, knowing that if we pulled back this is what was going to happen,” Hanners said.

Photo: Stephen ElliottU.S. Rep. Jim Cooper (D-Nashville) also showed up to the gathering after previously decrying the Trump administration’s move.

“I rarely participate in protests, but the sudden and unexplained betrayal of the Kurds is outrageous, and this is a completely bipartisan reaction,” said Cooper outside the courthouse. “What we fear is a genocide.”

