Utilising the chaos in Syria in the wake of Bashar al-Assad’s ouster, Turkey has mobilised its military along with militias it sponsors along the border with Kurdish-held Syrian territories in what appears to be a preparation for an imminent invasion, according to a report
  • perestroika@lemm.eeEnglish
    111·
    4 days ago

    I am not the best person to characterize the situation, but…

    …it seems that Turkish authorities have always felt very threatened by any ideas of Kurdish autonomy (even cultural autonomy). Domestically, they have been locked in a fight with PKK, that is true. But in recent times - since the civil war started in Syria - they have great difficulty telling PKK apart from YPG. One is an underground terrorist organization, the other is a uniformed military. But when the PKK does something, very often as a result - YPG get bombed.

    On the brighter side, Turkey has had a president of partly Kurdish ancestors (Turgut Özal). But the darker side of the coin is: he died of poisoning right before he could negotiate for peace with the PKK.

    I have a guess. When Turkey starts approaching peace with PKK, either PKK members commit an act of terror to break down negotiations, or Turkish special services kill their own negotiator. Because both organizations contain people who - tragically - think that peace would not be good for their business. Their business is war and they don’t want it entirely stopped.

    I hope I’m wrong - or that I have gradually become wrong as times have changed.

    • OmegaLemmy@discuss.onlineEnglish
      37·
      4 days ago

      They are threatened, look at the Wikipedia page for the current Kurdish party, and then check the past parties and what they have been accused of

      If anything is a plus, making 20% of the nation a direct enemy is never good so they have never gone beyond banning parties with plausible reasons, they have always been able to reform them back again and the Kurdish language has been preserved and culture deeply integrated.