President Donald Trump tried to excuses of withdraws his troops in Syria by mentioning that Turks and Kurds have fought for a century, but this proclamation has not accurate historical backgrounds.
At his last meeting with Receb Taib Erdogan at white house, He acknowledged Turkey’s efforts in Syria and said “border problems has thousand years history among these states, we deal with them from 700 miles, therefore we should to concern to our internal dilemma in contrary”.
Experts declined Trump’s contrary views, Janet Klein is Ottoman and Kurdistan relation experts and historical professor at Akron University regard to this said that “the view of saying that Kurds and Turks are inimical for several decades is unhistorical opinion”. Army attacked of Turkey on Syria marks green light of Trump to invade Syria in the last month.
Turkish government identifies Kurdish Syrian forces as a shadow branch of Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK) who is the enemy of Turkey since their founding in 1984 and controlled Syrian land after the interior war in Syria. Despite these dilemmas, but the relation between Turks and Kurds are great, unsolved and basics.
“For the duration of the first war world, most of the Kurds preferred to remain with Ottoman Empire with Turks but within having their own local authority, few years later even before the end of the war, Turkish nationalists started to define Kurds as “uncivilized, wild and unnecessary to spread civilizations among them” Janet Klein added.
Powers of post second war world supposed of making an independence state for Kurds, but at the end Turkey brought back Eastern part of Anatolia and Britain brought back Mosul as one of the Iraqi provinces.
Klein demonstrated on “while some of the Kurds swiftly took stance against Kamalists, after established Republic of Turkey, Kurds felt that Turkish has started to oppress and omitted their identity. Then Turks started to forced migration of Kurds” this means that it is not 300 years Kurds are struggles with Turks, opposite to Trump’s statement on October 21st.
When Trump attempted to reconcile between Erdogan and giving priority to Turkish invade in Syria, thus mixing Kurdish and Turkish dilemma is wrong efforts and risky attempting to join enemy characteristics with some fights. This is giving priority to some other conflicts as being saying that political process is not the solution.
Positive developments before 2015 explore that peace and negotiation on combats is reducing conflicts between Kurds and Turks which this is possible to arise yet again despite Trump’s mistakes.
Eyan Linch
Experts of the Middle Affair
