Discussion»Questions»Emotions» How long before we are at WAR with TURKEY? Are we already? We sort of are. And we definitely are not friends with the Kurds any more.
We did the same thing to the Kurds, as we did to the Taliban in the 1980's. Actually, we have a long history of this - going back to the "war" against the Barbary Pirates. We take a group of dissident locals... arm and train them ... throw them to battle ... then discard them when we're no longer interested. We were never friends with any of those groups. They were merely a means to an end. Usually an "end" that we don't even see through.
War with Turkey? Not likely, unless they withdraw from NATO.
While Trump has made some tactless blunders with Turkey and the relationship has cooled, the two countries are still officially friends and allies. The US has over 60 nuclear warheads stored on Turkish territory. That's just one of many reasons why they will keep making efforts to get along. Another is trade. Turkey produces some goods better than any other country in the world, like artichokes and sun-dried apricots. Another is its position as a buffer between the Middle-East and Europe, a gateway for trade and travel, and the host to over 2 million Syrian refugees, many of whom a hoping or waiting for a chance to emigrate to the West. The US does not want those refugees freed to flood wherever they will. And neither does Europe because it's already struggling to assimilate the huge numbers of immigrants from dissimilar cultures. Mostly, the Turkish and Syrian refugees adapt very well in Europe. They work hard to do so. But there is a rise of right-wing racism from Europeans who have trouble accepting even moderate Islam and many of its customs. There is overt racism and violent from Neo-Nazi groups and Europe needs to be very careful not to allow these tensions to grow or fester.
Meanwhile, the Turks are happy with Trump's withdrawal from Syria, because it's given them the chance they've wanted for years to invade Kurdish lands and conquer the rebels who want a separate homeland.
Kurdistan been disputed territory since before 3,000 BC, almost always a political football between competing and more powerful neighbours. But they do have a distinct language, and their brands of Christianity and Islam are different from others, usually softer and gentler, a bit more open-minded (excluding a tiny minority of fundamentalists).
I think it would be a kindness to the Kurds if both Turkey and Syria would cede the lands where Kurdish is spoken, and allow the people to have the country they've already occupied for thousands of years.
This post was edited by inky at October 17, 2019 11:38 PM MDT
