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By Arian Mufid:
The Turkish aggression received a green light from Trump when he abruptly decided to withdraw US forces from the north of Syria (Rojava). It’s hard to look at what the Trump administration has done and not conclude that it is an utter betrayal of the Kurds in the north of Syria. Kurds in Rojava have been allied to the USA in leading the fight against ISIS and destroying their caliphate in Raqqa. Today’s invasion reminds us that, if it wasn’t for Saddam’s invasion of Kuwait in 1991, the de facto Kurdish state of the south of Kurdistan would not have come into being. The internal political and economic position of Saddam’s regime motivated the dictator to invade neighbouring countries and divert the masses’ attention from Iraq’s internal problems. What is happening today is in a contradictory sense a positive step for the Kurdish movement in Rojava in that it will bring the Turkish state to its lowest point politically and economically. Rojava is a self-ruled and self-reliant region in the north-east of Syria. Rojava has progressed and flourished over the last few years and it is that trend that most upsets the Turkish military junta. Erdogan is a dictator and he is not different to the other dictators in the Middle East. He has not only provoked Kurds in Rojava but also divided his own AKP party into several factions. The departure of former Turkish prime minister Ahmed Davutoglu and former deputy premier Ali Babacan highlights the internal conflict inside that party, with these former allies now accusing Erdogan of no longer being able to provide solutions for Turkey. Erdogan has adopted a different approach, flaunting his wealth and power whilst gearing up the army to invade Syria. Erdogan’s ruthlessness has been clearly displayed both at home and outside Turkey. His policies have inflicted major damage on the Turkish economy and the state of its currency. The Turkish deficit stands at $2.4bn and the economic turbulence along with the presence of almost four million Syrian skilled workers has caused massive unemployment.
Finally, today’s developments can serve to strengthen the Kurdish and Syrian democratic movement against the Turkey state. The Turkish military junta is digging its own grave and history may repeat itself, with Erdogan’s fate likely to be akin to Saddam’s. The western world will pay a heavy price for their effective silence and complicity in the Turkish invasion. The SDF is holding around 10,000 ISIS prisoners (including 2,000 foreigners) in their territory who could now all be freed to pursue attacks across Europe. Turkey is blackmailing Europe and the USA and they should have not accepted this.
