On Sunday, October 6th, the White House released a statement detailing the United States’ plans to withdraw troops from Northeast Syria. The US armed forces were present in this region to work alongside ethnic Kurdish forces on the fight to eliminate the threat that Daesh (ISIS) posed to this particular region of the Middle East. in recent years, the collective forces have succeeded in reoccupying the land and imprisoning at least 10,000 known Daesh militants. However, with President Trump’s decision to remove American military forces from that region, comes Turkey’s more-than-ready offensive to prevent the Kurds from practicing autonomy in the neighboring region of Northeast Syria. Over the course of the past week, both Kurdish civilians and military personnel have been killed by Turkish shelling.

So, who are the Kurds?

The Kurds, or Kurdish people, are a modern-day predominantly Muslim, ethnically distinct individuals who, while similar to regionally established Turkish, Arab, and Persian ethnic variations, do not identify with any of their neighboring countries fully. There are two main dialects of the Kurdish language, which sees quite a bit of resemblance in the language of Farsi spoken by modern-day Iranians. The Kurds were promised a homeland in the Treaty of Sevres of World War I but western powers have yet to fulfill that promise. Only in Iraq has an Iraqi Kurdistan received some degree of autonomy. A separate parliament was established in 1992 within these borders in northern Iraq.

Despite the Western world’s failure to fully support a Kurdish state in the Middle East, Kurdish forces have worked alongside US forces in northern Syria to remove forces of Daesh terrorism from power. They have been successful in these offensive and have since established a three-mile buffer zone for neighboring southeast Turkey to move around through as seen fit.

But why are Turkish forces set on attacking the Kurds?

For the past several decades and to this day, Kurdish ethnic and nationalist groups, like the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), have waged legitimate disputes as well as bloody battles in hopes of obtaining a section of the Middle East region to call their homeland. It is likely that the Kurdish occupied northeast Syria could have served as that homeland, but a mass presence of Kurds right below Turkey gave Turkish people and the government reasons for concern. The Turkish government views the Kurds as terrorists and have plans to infiltrate northeast Syria to establish a new buffer-zone almost 30 kilometers further deeper than the one established by the United States.

Turkey’s economy has taken a sharp turn for the worse in recent years, and one way to climb out of the recession is to reevaluate the number of refugees to the Syrian Civil War Turkey can still provide for. With their goal 30 kilometer foothold in northeast Syria, Turkey plans to transfer at least a million of these refugees out of Turkish borders and into the new Turkish-force protected “safe-zone.”

What does losing this ally mean for the United States?

The Kurds were the United States’ last major dependable ally within the region of Iraq, Iran, Turkey, and Syria. No longer supporting the Kurds removes any sphere of influence the United States might have had or might have been able to develop in a part of the Middle East that the United States does not have a strong history with.

Also, though US retreat from this region might be seen as a kind gesture towards Turkey, President Trump made it clear the focus of this military move was simply to remove the US from a location the Administration believes has been won. Trump tweeted on October 7th that if Turkey were to act in a way his “wisdom” deemed “off-limits”, he would intervene to “obliterate” the Turkish economy once again.

At the end of the day, even though Daesh and extremism in the Syrian region have been kept under control in recent months, without a strong Kurdish presence to guard prisons holding terrorist militants there will be decreased security in preventing an outbreak of the radicals.

Around 70,000 native Syrians have already been displaced from their homes. So far, among the victims of Turkish attacks, this week alone includes 10 civilians–one of them reported to be a 9-month old child from the Turkish side. The Turkish government reports the elimination of 170 Kurdish “terrorists.”

*Warning: below are graphic videos of the impact of strikes on civilians. Viewer discretion is advised*

Horrible videos emerging from NE #Syria today of #Turkey proxies field-executing SDF fighters.



You can hear one saying “another pig gone.” Warning, this is a graphic thread of videos: pic.twitter.com/cX8Xw2ljsQ — Joyce Karam (@Joyce_Karam) October 12, 2019

This is heartbreaking!! I can’t stand watching this poor mother lose her two kids. #KurdishGenocide #KurdsBetrayedByTrump @realDonaldTrump did erdogan cross the line yet? He is killing innocent civilians and your threating to ruin his economy.?! What!? This needs to end! pic.twitter.com/siLzgDsFz1 — Zarivon.615 (@Zarivon615) October 10, 2019

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