Why is Turkey attacking the Kurds?

[UglyCasanova]

Somebody fill me in on this, what is the background between Turkey, the Kurds, ISIS, and the US. I know when we pulled out a Turkey started attacking the Kurds which was apparently planned? What do they have against them, is it a religious thing or territorial dispute?

If this is not deliberate trolling, it does have the effect of being an absolute troll. Witness the responses this troll has engendered.

IF you really know NOTHING AT ALL about the basics and history of this situation, which, again, is hard to believe but may be true, then you must do what any other adult would do, and inform yourself via the internet, the library, and/or the TV and radio news and commentary before posting here on this DISCUSSION board.

Perknose
Forum Director

 

[JSt0rm]

you could have googled this anytime over the last 5 years. There are like 15 documentaries and you come with the same confusion trump probably has on the subject.

 

[Victorian Gray]

You want someone to spoon-feed you several hundred years of history?

There's this thing called Google...

 

[JSt0rm]

You want someone to spoon-feed you several hundred years of history?

There's this thing called Google...

trump supporter

Posts like this will no longer be allowed in P&N.

Perknose
Forum Director

 

[imported_tajmahal]

Somebody fill me in on this, what is the background between Turkey, the Kurds, ISIS, and the US. I know when we pulled out a Turkey started attacking the Kurds which was apparently planned? What do they have against them, is it a religious thing or territorial dispute?

Most important is to go back to Desert Shield days with Bush #1. As the Kurds gained power, influence and arms they became a greater threat to the stability of the region.
Pay little attention to the Trump Delusion Victims, their whole little world revolves around Donald J. Trump like teen girls with a Tiger beat magazine.

 

[UglyCasanova]

It’s amazing that as dead as this place is you guys seem to be discouraging conversation even more. Why post that, if you had nothing to offer just skip the thread. I wanted to ask you guys hoping that someone could summarize what’s happening for me because I don’t understand what’s happening over there and his is a very relevant topic , instead it just seems you thread crap to derail it. Why?

 

[JSt0rm]

It’s amazing that as dead as this place is you guys seem to be discouraging conversation even more. Why post that, if you had nothing to offer just skip the thread. I wanted to ask you guys hoping that someone could summarize what’s happening for me because I don’t understand what’s happening over there and his is a very relevant topic , instead it just seems you thread crap to derail it. Why?

you always stat thread posing a question and by the end of it you are arguing why trump is right.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1182032412513067009

trump is a retard.

 

[UglyCasanova]

Most important is to go back to Desert Shield days with Bush #1. As the Kurds gained power, influence and arms they became a greater threat to the stability of the region.
Pay little attention to the Trump Delusion Victims, their whole little world revolves around Donald J. Trump like teen girls with a Tiger beat magazine.

So are the Kurds an ethnicity or a tribe or what are they, I know they were fighting ISIS which is good but how do they destabilize the region ?

 

[UglyCasanova]

you always stat thread posing a question and by the end of it you are arguing why trump is right.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1182032412513067009

trump is a retard.

So don’t post in my threads? Sorry for asking a question, that’s no reason to thread crap and attempt to derail.

 

[JSt0rm]

So don’t post in my threads? Sorry for asking a question, that’s no reason to thread crap and attempt to derail.

you arent a honest poster. The point of this thread is so you can end up saying what trump did was right. There is no other reason and others should know before they spend time engaging.

 

[Victorian Gray]

Most important is to go back to Desert Shield days with Bush #1. As the Kurds gained power, influence and arms they became a greater threat to the stability of the region.
Pay little attention to the Trump Delusion Victims, their whole little world revolves around Donald J. Trump like teen girls with a Tiger beat magazine.

Thanks for informing us know that you have no understanding of the situation or history.

 

[Gabe323]

Every fucking time.

 

[JSt0rm]

Thanks for informing us know that you have no understanding of the situation or history.

if Breitbart isn't talking about it they don't know about it.

 

[UglyCasanova]

you arent a honest poster. The point of this thread is so you can end up saying what trump did was right. There is no other reason and others should know before they spend time engaging.

The point of this thread is for me to understand wtf is going on over there. You have no idea why I posted this apparently and calling me dishonest is I would think a personal attack. You’ve added nothing to the conversation out of what seems like paranoia that someone may agree with Trump (I have no idea if I do or not because I don’t understand the situation which is why I asked). Please just skip my threads entirely if you are so convinced of my ulterior motives, don’t thread crap and attempt to derail them. That’s trolling, I can’t think of any other way to describe it.

 

[JSt0rm]

The point of this thread is for me to understand wtf is going on over there. You have no idea why I posted this apparently and calling me dishonest is I would think a personal attack. You’ve added nothing to the conversation out of what seems like paranoia that someone may agree with Trump (I have no idea if I do or not because I don’t understand the situation which is why I asked). Please just skip my threads entirely if you are so convinced of my ulterior motives, don’t thread crap and attempt to derail them. That’s trolling, I can’t think of any other way to describe it.

you have no idea if you agree with trump or not with regards to pulling out of syria? Interesting.

 

[Jaskalas]

It is the Middle East. The simple answer is tribalism. Because that is what humans do.

As our recent ancestors decided on the borders of Middle East countries, we didn't consult with who actually owned the land. And so there are cultural and ethnic minorities suffering under the thumb of others who were given claim over their land. These minorities are to be exterminated as the "terrorists" some of them are. Nothing short of military conquest and multiple generations will purge the losing tribe, as the stronger tribes are want to do. As is human nature. Make no mistake, it is only the international community applying pressure that prevents the fulfillment of these massacres.

Trump being Trump, does NOT care about human life. Or the lives of our allies. Or the respect, the word, or the honor of the United States.

Trump will betray Allies because he has real estate in Turkey. While Erdogan can play weak and spineless men like the fiddle they are. Without United States leadership, the Middle East descends back into the law of the jungle. Might makes right, as is the natural order of things. With humans massacring humans until one tribe is wiped off the face of the earth. That is, after all, how nations are born. The Middle East is simply fulfilling its destiny many decades after we set the stage.

Without proper support, the Middle East is a genocide. Turks VS Kurds are just one small part of the larger, human, story.

 

[imported_tajmahal]

The Kurds inhabit parts of Turkey, Syria, Iraq, Iran and Armenia iirc. They have no home country of their own.
Wiki sucks, but it's the best i can do.

Kurds - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

The Kurds are an example of why the United Nations was conceived and built and why it's failed miserably in doing a damn thing except failing at the mission.

 

[pmv]

I'm shocked that the OP is even asking this. How can one have a view on Trump if one doesn't know the background to something so basic? The Turks have been being brutal to the Kurds within their own borders for a very long time. Even non-Erdogan-supporting Turks can be nationalistic and touchy when the topic of the Kurds comes up. I suppose it's _very_ vaguely analogous to Ireland for the UK or as Algeria used to be for France. Or Tibet for China perhaps. (And, I suppose, like the IRA, the PKK have committed serious terrorist attacks which are hardly likely to improve Turkish attitudes). The existence of the Kurds as an independent-minded cultural and linguistic group is seen as a threat to Turkey's national integrity. Plus personally I suspect Erdogan himself goes further and has secret dreams of recreating the Ottoman Empire.

I remember back before the invasion of Iraq one of the big issues being the fear it would destabilise the region and lead to the Turks attacking the Kurdish regions. In the event it didn't happen directly then, but this is partially that prediction coming to pass, albeit in Syria as a result of that country's collapse, rather than Iraq.

Actually, my impression is that the US support for the Kurds has been disconcerting for the left, who aren't used to the US being on the right side in such disputes. The left will talk about Israel a lot but don't seem to mention Turkey and the Kurds that much. They seem to find it a little difficult to deal with the fact that white Europeans are not the only historical imperialists in the world.

Geopolitics is insanely complicated (google Erdogan and Ottoman Empire and you find conservatives, leftists, liberals, Armenians and supporters of Assad all suggesting the Turks have imperial ambitions).

 

[brycejones]

1. The Kurds in turkey have been treated horribly by the Turks for generations. Forbidden to use their language, discrimination etc.
2. Kurds in Turkey had low level insurgency/separatist movement due to 1.
3. Before the current dictator wannabe came to power #2 and #1 were on a path to winding down and improving.
4. Current Turkish leader killed the peace process and used the Kurds as a domestic political punching bag.
5. Armed Kurds next door not under the thumb of the Syrian regime scares the shit out of wannabe dictator who wants unarmed domestic political punching bag.
6. Trump gives turkey green light to attack by pulling out US troops that were embedded with the Syrian Kurds.
7. Here we are. Our allies are being attacked after Trump pulled troops and thinks bigly sounding tweets will salvage the situation.

 

[ch33zw1z]

1. The Kurds in turkey have been treated horribly by the Turks for generations. Forbidden to use their language, discrimination etc.
2. Kurds in Turkey had low level insurgency/separatist movement due to 1.
3. Before the current dictator wannabe came to power #2 and #1 were on a path to winding down and improving.
4. Current Turkish leader killed the peace process and used the Kurds as a domestic political punching bag.
5. Armed Kurds next door not under the thumb of the Syrian regime scares the shit out of wannabe dictator who wants unarmed domestic political punching bag.
6. Trump gives turkey green light to attack by pulling out US troops that were embedded with the Syrian Kurds.
7. Here we are. Our allies are being attacked after Trump pulled troops and thinks bigly sounding tweets will salvage the situation.

Class dismissed

 

[KMFJD]

https://twitter.com/x/status/776097265270292480

because we have a POTUS that is beholden to his commercial interests in Turkey ?

 

[cytg111]

So are the Kurds an ethnicity or a tribe or what are they, I know they were fighting ISIS which is good but how do they destabilize the region ?

KDP, largest party and pro-west. All I need to know.
Well, after this clusterbetrayal, i dont know how pro-western they are gonna be. But as Donald put it ... dont worry, its Europes problem, not his.
I think we should consider kicking both the US and Turkey out of NATO. Eff this s*.

 

[Oric]

Somebody fill me in on this, what is the background between Turkey, the Kurds, ISIS, and the US. I know when we pulled out a Turkey started attacking the Kurds which was apparently planned? What do they have against them, is it a religious thing or territorial dispute?

As a Turkish member of the board let me explain.

0. Kurds did not have their independent state for millenia. As World War I ended, the British gave some of the affluent Kurdish Tribes "An independent homeland" promise to stop Turkish independence war and later stop Turkey to control the oil regions in Mousul and Kerkuk.
1. Kurds are one of the founding groups of the Modern Turkish Republic
2. The Turkish State was founded on being a melting pot of Turkish ethnicity .. Up until 1990'ies. This was no fair treatment for Kurds, they were not discriminated per person basis but their language was not official (No discrimination means, we had Presidents, Prime Ministers, Ministers of Kurdish decent, but they spoke Turkish in all official means)
3. After the coup of 1980, the Junta treated the Kurds very badly and this was the last drop in the bucket and PKK was born
4. PKK killed nearly 30.000 civilians in 35 years, they lost the same amount so this became a vendetta for both sides.
5. PKKwas a Marxist - Leninist structure so was supported by USSR,found itself in official terror list
6. After the end of the cold war, old plans to shape the Middle East were dusted off.
7. A new ally state to watch over USA - Israel interest was chosen to be the future Kurdistan. This would be an handy proxy and carve out land from 4 nations, Turkey - Iran - Iraq and Syria, destabilize the region further and that means profit
8. The Iraq war made it possible to execute the plan for Iraq
9. Syria civil war was encouraged and ISIS was supported covertly by USA to destabilize the region, fend off the local Arab/Turkoman population, fight the "out of nowhere" ISIS and make the Kurds "The hero of the region"
10. Marxist Leninist roots keep PKK/YPG secular, so they are percieved as a low risk for "yet another Islamist entity"
11. As Syrian state collapsed, YPG controlled almost 1/3 of Syria, although they have %10 of the population.
12. The next move would be to annex N.Iraq and N.Syria and create the Kurdistan
13. Two moves later Iran & Turkey

Meanwhile .. Kurds in Turkey have their Kurdish broadcasts, parties, education. We have 4.5 million Syrians (for 5 years now) and almost 1 Million Kurds (since Iraq war) as refugees inside our borders. (They are settled, working etc.)

Turkey aims to control a 30 km deep area on the border and rebuild cities to relocate the refugees in this protected area.

The operation is not against the civilians.

I will write again to this topic after 1 month. I don't like flame wars, we will discuss what happened.

 

[Victorian Gray]

lordy

 

[dawp]

because donnie boy let them AND he didn't want to lose his property in Istanbul.