The Turks claim to enter the fight against Daesh, the Turks really wanted to attack Kurds. I am no fan of socialist governance and ideology, much less potentially communist ideology. I am a supporter of rights of self-determination. For me personally the Kurdish question as related to Turkey is a quandary. The Kurdish PKK is at best socialist in ideological underpinning, and at worst communist. I do, however, support the Kurdish right to have a self-determined voice in governance in the countries where they exist (Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey are the primary locations of Kurds with a small population location in Armenia). As a dedicated proponent of self-determination, I even support the idea of a Kurdish state and country (albeit I would greatly prefer to see the creation of such a country by peaceful means rather than violence--sometimes violence is the politically expedient means of creating such an entity).
In 2013 the PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party) entered into a ceasefire with the Turkish government. Last week the Turkish government determined that it would strike both Daesh and the PKK labeling both as terrorist organizations. But the statement by Prime Minister Davutoglu first mentions Kurds then leftists (whoever these are), then Daesh:
"Turkey cannot stand by as Kurdish, leftist, and Islamic State militants target Turkey."
In the last week Turkey has arrested over 1000 suspected members of the PKK, leftist groups, and Daesh. The prime leftist group appears to the People's Democratic Party (HDP), which is pro-Kurdish and in June crossed the threshold limits to enter the Turkish Parliament for the first time.
To be fair to Turkey, the PKK has recently claimed responsibility for attacks on and killings of Turkish police. This information does beg the question of who broke the ceasefire. But why the sudden Turkish activity?
For my two cents the answer is fear and intransigence in the Turkish government. The Syrian arm of the PKK (the YPG--not sure of the meaning of this acronym) has been successful against Daesh and last month took a border town (on the Syrian side of the Syrian-Turkish border)--Tel Abyad--from Daesh, which effectively joined two Kurdish enclaves putting them closer to linking up with the Kurdish controlled Afrin enclave in the Aleppo region. Turkey fears the rise of the Kurds--probably because the Turks know they have long mistreated the Kurds. Turkey's government, regardless of leadership and form of governance, is also one of the great examples of culturally intransigent government on the face of the earth. We are talking about the government/population that still refuses to admit that they engaged in genocidal activity against the Armenian Christian population of Turkey from 1914-1918. I am not surprised, therefore, by the actions of the Turkish government, just disappointed.
In 2013 the PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party) entered into a ceasefire with the Turkish government. Last week the Turkish government determined that it would strike both Daesh and the PKK labeling both as terrorist organizations. But the statement by Prime Minister Davutoglu first mentions Kurds then leftists (whoever these are), then Daesh:
"Turkey cannot stand by as Kurdish, leftist, and Islamic State militants target Turkey."
In the last week Turkey has arrested over 1000 suspected members of the PKK, leftist groups, and Daesh. The prime leftist group appears to the People's Democratic Party (HDP), which is pro-Kurdish and in June crossed the threshold limits to enter the Turkish Parliament for the first time.
To be fair to Turkey, the PKK has recently claimed responsibility for attacks on and killings of Turkish police. This information does beg the question of who broke the ceasefire. But why the sudden Turkish activity?
For my two cents the answer is fear and intransigence in the Turkish government. The Syrian arm of the PKK (the YPG--not sure of the meaning of this acronym) has been successful against Daesh and last month took a border town (on the Syrian side of the Syrian-Turkish border)--Tel Abyad--from Daesh, which effectively joined two Kurdish enclaves putting them closer to linking up with the Kurdish controlled Afrin enclave in the Aleppo region. Turkey fears the rise of the Kurds--probably because the Turks know they have long mistreated the Kurds. Turkey's government, regardless of leadership and form of governance, is also one of the great examples of culturally intransigent government on the face of the earth. We are talking about the government/population that still refuses to admit that they engaged in genocidal activity against the Armenian Christian population of Turkey from 1914-1918. I am not surprised, therefore, by the actions of the Turkish government, just disappointed.
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