TCA Statement on U.S. Officials' Statements on Kurds and Turkey

Mavi Boncuk |

TCA Statement on U.S. Officials' Statements on Kurds and Turkey

The Turkish Coalition of America (TCA) is deeply concerned by statements by U.S.
government officials irresponsibly employing offensive language such as “ensuring that
Turks don’t slaughter Kurds,” following U.S. President Trump’s announcement that the
withdrawal of all 2000 U.S. troops from Syria will be coordinated with Turkey.
Any expression of generic anti-Kurdish hostility by the government of Turkey or the
people of Turkey is provocative and uninformed.

Over 10 million of Turkey’s 80 million citizens are of Kurdish ethnicity. Turks of Kurdish
ethnicity are closely integrated into Turkey’s government, business and industry and have
attained the highest positions in each of these fields with great contributions. In addition
Turkey maintains positive relations and close economic cooperation with the Iraqi
Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), having established formal relations with Erbil in
2010.

The tens of millions of peaceable ethnic Kurds worldwide can surely be distinguished from
The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which is an armed, Marxist-Leninist terrorist
organization, listed as such by the United States and the European Union. Not all Syrian
Kurds support the PKK-linked People’s Protection Units (YPG). That is why Turkey has
steadfastly opposed the misguided U.S. decision to support, train, and arm YPG forces
from the very beginning.

Turkey is concerned that the YPG and its political arm, PYD, are involved in ethnic
cleansing of rival political and ethnic groups in Syria while capitalizing on the ISIS threat,
as documented by Amnesty International. Also according to the Syrian Kurdish National
Council (ENKS), which consists of more than 10 Kurdish political parties, the YPG regularly
commits human rights violations and discrimination against Kurds and Arabs that do not
share their ideology.[i] The Supreme Assembly for Syrian Tribes, which consists of Arab,
Kurdish, Turkmen, and Assyrian tribal representatives, has joined forces against the
YPG.[ii] Neither the ENKS nor the KDP, which is the ruling party of the Iraqi Kurdistan
Regional Government, recognize YPG or the PYD as legitimate political entities. Most Arab
tribes also oppose the YPG due to their ethnic displacement policies and property
confiscation.[iii]

Turkey currently hosts approximately 3.5 million Syrian refugees, consisting of Arabs,
Turkmens, and ethnic Kurds some of whom have been forced out of their homes by the
YPG. Throughout the Syrian civil war, thousands of Syrian Kurds have fled to Turkey to
escape the atrocities of ISIS, as documented by the United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees (UNHCR.)[iv]

TCA welcomes the cautious efforts on both sides to coordinate military planning in the
fight against ISIS. However, the US and Turkey must work towards a comprehensive
strategic framework for a democratic transition that would end the war and defeat ISIS in
Syria. Washington should take the necessary steps to respond to its NATO ally’s
reasonable and obvious national security concerns. Ankara should take into consideration
how the U.S. political system functions. Cooperation in Syria based on common security
interests can play a constructive and definitive role in eliminating ISIS and in
strengthening the vital U.S.-Turkey relationship.

[i] “YPG oppresses Kurdish opposition, claims Kurdish group official, Hurriyet Daily News ,
December 27, 2018, http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/ypg-oppresses-kurdishopposition-
claims-kurdish-group-official-140057
[ii] “Syria tribes united against YPG/PKK, support Turkish op,” Anadolu Agency, December
21, 2018, https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/syria-tribes-united-against-ypg-pkksupport-
turkish-op/1345424
[iii] Fabrice Balanche, “Tal Abyad: Achilles Heel of the Syrian Kurdish Belt,” The
Washington Institute, Policywatch 3059, December 21,
2018, https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/tal-abyad-achilles-heelof-
the-syrian-kurdish-belt
[iv] “UNHCR steps up response as 130000 Syrian refugees cross into Turkey," September
20, 2014, https://reliefweb.int/report/turkey/unhcr-steps-response-130000-syrianrefugees-
cross-turkey