The Kurds are a small religious minority, who mostly live in Syria, Turkey, and Iraq.
While the Kurds have historically been known for being the target of Turkey’s wrath, in recent years they have become known in the west as something else.
The Kurds are indispensable fighting force in their region, and they were instrumental in defeating ISIS. Their fighting occurred primarily between 2014 and 2017.
As French President Macron recently and correctly noted, the west owes The Kurds not only for their fight and sacrifices against ISIS, but also for running detention centers for ISIS fighters and their families.
The Kurds have long sought for an independent state, and Turkey has been the largest obstacle to that goal. Turkey regards all Kurdish political movement towards self-determination as ‘terrorist’, an inaccurate portrayal which minimizes the Kurds right to self determination.
In regards to Turkey, the state has recently shifted firmly in the direction of more rigid political Islam. Example developments include an expansion of the Directorate of Religious affairs, changes to the education system which emphasize Islam over democratic values, and converting the Hagia Sophia from a museum to a mosque in 2020.
With regards to NATO, Turkey has bought sophisticated anti-air systems from Russia (in a slight to NATO), it has threatened Greece (another NATO member), and it delayed Finland and Sweden’s bids to become NATO members due to Turkey complaining about some Nordic citizens being “islamophobic”.
Turkey’s shift towards rigid political Islam is consistently seen across its actions. It goes without saying that Turkey should be kicked out of NATO, being completely out of step in values and governance compared to any other NATO state aside for perhaps Hungary, which perhaps rivals Turkey in anti-democratic values
The fundamental question is, why does the west allow Turkey, a seriously Islamist political regime, to bully the Kurds? The Kurds have done so much for not just the United States and France, but for all of our allies.
Why don’t we stand up for the Kurds? Why aren’t their protests on college campuses calling for their freedom and statehood?
The silence surrounding the Kurdish struggle is as deafening as it is baffling. Despite their vital role in defeating ISIS and their ongoing sacrifices for global security, the Kurds remain a stateless people, continually suppressed by Turkey’s increasingly Islamist regime.
It is past time for the West to stop enabling Turkey’s actions while failing to support the Kurds’ legitimate aspirations for self-determination. If values like democracy, human rights, and justice mean anything, then the time has come to champion the Kurds—not just in words, but in tangible, unwavering support.
Pictured: Female Peshmerga Kurdish fighters
GayJew
Article URL : https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurds