A
phone call from the Turkish president.
That's all it took for Trump to decide something that means nothing less than the betrayal
– once again – of one of the United States’ greatest Middle Eastern allies:
the Kurdish people, the largest ethnic minority in the region without a state of their own.
We’re talking about 25 to 35 million people.
But just a second, because this isn’t the United States’ first treason against its
Kurdish allies, far from it.
The truth is that the largest Western power has made several hard-to-understand decisions,
especially if we consider that the Kurdish people have been involved in practically every
conflict in the area that was of interest to the United States.
The Kurds have sided with the Americans in the worst moments and, quite often, when the
Americans wanted to save some of their own, the Kurds stepped in to help them in battle.
That explains why the United States has armed and equipped the Kurds for decades.
Now, don’t think for a second that we’re only talking about past issues.
Not at all.
The last decisive incident involving Kurdish troops’ participation was in October, during
the fight against the Islamic State, which had invaded a large part of the Iraqi territory
between 2015 and 2016.
In fact, it’s no exaggeration to say that without the Kurds, ISIS would most probably
still be a strong operation.
And we aren’t referring to a false caliphate reduced to dust, but of a much larger problem.
Given all this complex history, this video will focus on two key questions:
Why are the Kurds so important to the United States and Turkey?
And why and how has the United States repeatedly betrayed them throughout history?
Listen up.
Dear friends of VisualPolitik, at this point in the game, something is quite clear.
President Trump’s international policy is… how should I say this… unique.
It… could be described as curious.
Or perhaps, shocking, unstable, volatile, capricious...
Well, let's just say it's hard to define.
The point is that his condescending behavior and his penchant for praising dictators such
as Kim Jong Un and barely-democratic presidents such as Putin or Erdogan, has caused a certain
bewilderment in the international community.
And no wonder!
Think about it for a second, who in their right mind is going to trust a country run
by a president who constantly aligns with such characters while simultaneously punishing
his allies?
(Trump Administration Announces Tariffs on Whiskey, Cheese and Aircrafts From the E.U.
Time)
(Trump puts politics before common sense with EU trade war.
South China Morning Post)
We certainly can’t call him friendly, can we?
Well, this way of doing politics that is so... unstable has touched the Kurds.
Trump has taken an approach that could be defined as “When I said X, what I mean is
Y”.
And, how did he do that?
Well, he basically moved his American troops out of the way to clear the path for Turkish
troops to attack his Kurdish allies in northern Syria.
Yes, you heard that right.
(US troops' retreat from N Syria 'has begun': Erdogan.
“This comes as Turkey plans operation east of Euphrates River in northern Syria” Anadolu
Agency)
(Trump’s Shameful Abandonment of the Kurds.
“The U.S. owes the Syrian Democratic Forces some loyalty for their fight against Islamic
State.”
Bloomberg)
(Turkey's Erdogan vows to 'crush heads' of Kurdish fighters.
BBC)
Don’t tell me that doesn’t sound serious.
It certainly doesn't seem like the best way to treat an ally, does it?
Now hold on a second because the problem is actually much more complex than it seems.
Throughout this story, the United States stands between two great adversaries:
The Turks and the Kurds.
So, at this point, we need to take a closer look at those relationships: what exactly
is happening between Turkey and the Kurds?
Why does the United States seem to hold such a key position in this matter?
Listen up.
(TURKEY OR THE KURDS?
SAILING BETWEEN TWO TURBULENT WATERS)
For the United States, for virtually the entire international community and for anyone interested
in what’s happening in the world, relations between Turkey and the Kurds have always been
a headache.
Check this out.
On the one hand, Turkey is a fundamental and very important ally for both the United States
and various European countries.
Turkey is a NATO member that holds a privileged geographical position.
We’re talking about a country that’s located in Europe’s extreme east, near Russia and
at the gates of the Middle East.
A country that has borders with Iran, Iraq and Syria.
Put a different way, Turkey’s position is so important that to preserve their interests
there, Western powers are willing to be “permissive” with the Turkish government’s actions.
And current Turkish President Erdogan knows that.
This can be seen, for example, in his closeness to Russia or his constant conflicts with the
European Union.
On the other hand, there are the Kurds, one of the most moderate peoples in the Middle
East.
Despite being a predominantly Muslim society, they have a well-defined secular character
and a strong opposition to radical Islamism.
So, the Kurds have fought for decades using US provisions and weapons in a multitude of
conflicts and wars against local dictatorships and Islamist groups such as the Islamic State,
making them practically disappear.
You see, both Turkey and the Kurdish people have, in recent decades, been key allies of
the great Western powers.
The problem is that relations between the Turks and the Kurds is at an all-time low.
Why?
Because of a longtime conflict.
In 1920, after the end of World War I, the Treaty of Sèvres was signed in Paris between
Turkey and the allied countries – with the exception of Russia and the United States.
It called for the dismemberment of the Ottoman Empire and the creation of a Kurdish state.
So logically the Kurds expected they’d have their own state.
However, this treaty was never implemented.
The Turkish nationalists, led by Ataturk, rebelled, seized power and got the United
States to agree on a new treaty in 1923, the Treaty of Lausanne, which erased the possibility
of a Kurdish state from the map.
Since then, the Kurds have organized themselves politically and militarily with one goal in
mind: to confront Turkey and get back what the Treaty of Sèvres promised them.
Of course, this confrontation has gone from bad to worse, and has led to one of the most
entrenched conflicts in the world.
The military arm of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party ended up perpetrating bloody attacks
in Turkey for decades while the Turkish Armed Forces had no qualms about executing harsh
reprisals.
Of course, the Kurds aren’t only confined to Turkey, there are also Kurds living in
Iran, Iraq and Syria.
And it’s the Kurdish organizations in Iraq and Syria which have been particularly close
allies of the United States in recent years.
But for the Turkish government, all Kurds are a problem no matter where they live or
who they are allied with.
They understand that if autonomous and independent Kurdish governments formed in any of these
places, it could pose a serious threat to their sovereignty.
It’s a complicated situation, isn’t it?
And this leads us to a key question: If it was up to you, yes, yes, you.
Who would you support?
The Turks or the Kurds?
Well, that's a question that has long been asked in Washington.
And you know what?
It definitely seems that, in the end, it’s the most powerful one who gets to hold the
stick.
When all the cards are on the table, which is the most expendable side?
Which will Washington choose?
A historically consolidated and economically and militarily strong state?
Or a stateless people?
If this were an exam question, it wouldn’t seem that complicated.
Right?
Well, that’s precisely why the Kurds have been betrayed or at least cast aside by the
United States on so many occasions since the early twentieth century.
And the last time was very recently, in the beginning of October 2019.
And there was a clear protagonist: Donald Trump.
Listen up.
(TRUMP’S LATEST BETRAYAL)
The United States has turned its back on its Kurdish
allies not once, nor twice, nor three times, but at least seven or eight times.
At least from what is officially known.
Without digging too deep, one of the most serious betrayals, and the one which has caused
the most controversy in US political and military circles, is the one that President Donald
Trump promoted at the beginning of October 2019.
As many of you may know, Trump announced and executed the withdrawal of US troops from
Syria’s northeastern border after a phone call with Erdogan.
The US troops, between 100 and 150, have been mobilized to other parts of Syria, but this
movement cleared the path for the Turkish Army, allowing them to enter into direct confrontation
with the Kurds of the Syrian Democratic Forces, a group which was key in defeating ISIS.
Yes, that’s how Trump shows appreciation for the sacrifices of those who helped end
ISIS’s realm of terror.
What do you think about that?
Given what we’ve seen, we cannot be surprised that the Kurds feel betrayed and deceived.
(Syrian Kurds see American betrayal and warn fight against ISIS is now in doubt.
The Washington Post)
With friends like these...
Who needs enemies?
But, just a second because that isn’t the worst of it.
Not at all.
The worst thing is that this decision creates a very dangerous precedent, because it deals
a harsh blow to the confidence other allies of the US in the Middle East will have in
the United States going forward.
After all, if they betrayed the Kurds today, what guarantee is there that something similar
won’t happen to others tomorrow?
What incentive do groups related to Western interests have to rely on the United States,
how can they trust them?
It’s complicated, right?
Well, we’re not done yet because we still haven't told you how this Trumpian decision
was made.
One tip: You might want to be sitting down for this.
Under normal circumstances we would expect a President to make such an important decision
based on some consensus or agreement with the Pentagon, with recommendations from the
State Department, or, at the very least, after some agreement with the political leaders
of his own party in the House of Representatives and the Senate.
Well, none of these things happened.
Because well, Trump is different.
And this decision was made against every single relevant participant’s recommendation.
[Come on, he did it right under their noses.
What do the people of the Senate, Pentagon or State Department know anyway?]
And of course, that didn’t sit at all well with the ranks of the Republican Party, especially
if we consider that he already attempted a withdrawal from Syria in December 2018 that
ended with the resignation of the Secretary of Defense, James Mattis, and of Brett McGurk,
the then Special Presidential Envoy for the Global Coalition to Counter ISIL.
Perhaps that’s why, on this occasion, even top-level personalities, of his own party,
as is the case with the leader of the Republican majority in the Senate, Mitch McConnell, have
spoken out against this decision.
(Senate Republicans Recoil From Trump’s Decision to Abandon Kurds.
Bloomberg.)
(“I urge the president to keep together our multinational coalition to defeat ISIS
and prevent significant conflict between our NATO ally Turkey and our local Syrian counterterrorism
partners.”
- Mitch McConnell, Leader of the Senate Republican Majority.)
And not only that, other prominent senators, such as Lindsey Graham – also from the Republican
Party – have warned about the risks that Trump doesn’t want to see and have proposed
sanctions against Turkey and even their expulsion from NATO if they end up invading Northern
Syria and crushing the Kurds.
(“We will introduce bipartisan sanctions against Turkey if they invade Syria and will
call for their suspension from NATO if they attack Kurdish forces who assisted the U.S.
in the destruction of the ISIS Caliphate.
GOP Senator Lindsey Graham, on Twitter.)
Also, some leaders close to the United States, such as Benjamin Netanyahu, have spoken in
the same way:
(Israel strongly condemns the Turkish invasion of the Kurdish areas in Syria and warns against
the ethnic cleansing of the Kurds by Turkey and its proxies.
Israel is prepared to extend humanitarian assistance to the gallant Kurdish people.)
And you know what?
It is no longer just a matter of loyalty to their allies, but of national security.
For example, Kurdish troops are currently holding more than 30,000 militants loyal to
the Islamic state.
Militants who could be released if there were a conflict with Turkey.
But , knowing the current tenant of the White House, you may be curious, how has Trump reacted
to all of this?
Well...
In his usual way: with blows, threats and… well, the usual Twitterstorm...
(“As I have stated strongly before, and just to reiterate, if Turkey does anything
that I, in my great and unmatched wisdom, consider to be off limits, I will totally
destroy and obliterate the Economy of Turkey (I’ve done before!).”
Donald Trump, president of the U.S.A., on Twitter.)
Great and unmatched wisdom...
No comment.
(Trump claims Kurds 'no angels' as he boasts of his own 'brilliant' strategy.
The Guardian)
By the way, this isn’t the first time that Trump has betrayed the Kurds.
He already did it in Iraq in 2017.
We tell you all about it in this video.
Since then, what happened was that the United States, under the Trump administration, simply
looked the other way.
But now, it’s your turn.
What do you think the United States’ position should be in the Turkish-Kurdish conflict?
Should the US keep close ties with the Kurds as they were the main actors in ISIS’s defeat,
instead of betraying them and allowing Turkey to attack them?
Is this just Trump committing his latest irresponsible act as president?
Leave your answer in the comments.
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