War Against the Kurds Renewed

http://www.solidarity-us.org/node/4755
Date Written:  2016-09-01
Publisher:  Against the Current
Year Published:  2016
Resource Type:  Article
Cx Number:  CX21475

For show, Erdogan's airforce carried out a few symbolic raids against ISIS, but in reality the aerial offensive was against the Kurdish fighters in northern Iraq.

Abstract: 
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Excerpt:

Turkey is unable to carry out bombing raids against Kurdish forces in Northern Syria because the airspace is effectively controlled either by the Russians or the Americans. But in addition to attacking the Kurds in south east Turkey and northern Iraq, they are strongly supporting Islamist forces fighting the Kurds in Syria and have shelled them across the border.

The hypocrisy of this situation is staggering. The United States and others have praised the Kurdish fighters as the most effective force in the battle against ISIS in Syria, but these fighters are the victims of Turkish attacks sanctioned by NATO.

From early September 2015 many thousands of troops were deployed to attack Kurdish towns and cities in southeastern Turkey, particularly Cizre, the Sur area of Diyarbakir, the de facto "capital" of Turkish Kurdistan, Sirnex, Silopi, Gever and Nusaybin. The aim of this was to crush the attempt by municipalities to declare self-rule and to crush those militants defending self-rule.