Turkey and Syria

[yolofish]

Turkish air force have gone in, and the Kurds have requested a no fly zone (from remaining US forces) to protect civilian areas - this has not been granted. There is public panic - of course.

Trump will have the blood on his hands first, soon to be followed by those of the West who do not support the Kurds - who had to do the dirty work against ISIS and have already suffered greatly.

AIBU to ask if this is the first step to WW3?

It's a fucking disgusting betrayal

I just saw this on the tv at work 😩.

No, YANBU. It is.

It is indeed a disgusting betrayal. I doubt there ever will be a WW3 though.

It's fucking disgraceful.
Funny how we thought Trump would be too busy playing at president to actually do any damage...

Can you explain it like I'm 5 please? I'd like to understand what's going on.

Maybe not WWIII, MarianaMoatedGrange, you're right -- but for a few hundred thousand people it might as well be. And once the Turks have accidentally let loose all the ISIS prisoners the Kurds have been holding, the whole ISIS thing will start up again.

Disgusting betrayal is right; also incredible stupidity.

What is the situation in north-eastern Syria?

www.theguardian.com/world/2019/oct/09/what-is-situation-north-eastern-syria-turkey-kurds?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Copy_to_clipboard

Land troops gone in now, according to BBC.

According to my (English) acquaintance who has been settled in Turkey for 40 years bar a recent two year period in UK where she took every opportunity to describe what a shithole she found the place, Erdogan is the good guy, just trying to provide a safe haven for the Kurdish refugees currently in Turkey so they can go 'home'. A German friend (who I think is quite high up in politics) is eviscerating her argument in the most precise surgical fashion.

People on the move - ie fleeing the 'action'. TBH, I am disappointed at how few responses there are to this thread - it's like it's all happening somewhere else, it's a long way away... so it doesn't really matter.

I think a lot of people just turn away from things happening in the Near or Middle East. They fail entirely to realise that Kurdistan was as progressive and successful a modern society by Western standards as the UK.

It's so awful all I can think when j watch the news is "shit ". The poor Kurds.

Awful situation, poor Kurds betrayed.

It's terrible. The Kurds have been used and betrayed, it's disgusting.

People don't want to face up to what Turkey is like, as they want their sunny holidays guilt free.

Don't worry. Donald Trump will both obliterate AND destroy the Turkish economy if they decide to do something that is off limits. Thank god

for his great and unmatched wisdom.

mobile.twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1181232249821388801?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1181232249821388801&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cbsnews.com%2Fnews%2Ftrump-syria-withdrawal-turkey-balks-at-president-tweet-warning-them-to-limit-syria-incursion-against-kurds%2F

But then, they didn't help us during Normandy so maybe they deserve it.

Ah yes, Normandy. Damn them bastard Kurds!

(did Trump REALLY write that tweet? it must surely be a parody... mustnt it? No, don't bother answering...)

I hope this isn't insensitive but I have a Holiday booked for Turkey. I've only paid a small deposit.

Should I cancel?

As if Syria and the wider Middle East wasn't in enough shit already. Major risk of a mass ISIS jailbreak as a direct result of Turkey's actions now.

The effects of the last military operation in Syria are still being felt, so God only knows what will happen to these poor people this time.

Erdogan is blood thirsty, a friend and enabler of ISIS and a hater of the Kurds. What we are seeing here is ethnic cleansing, being passed off in the language of 'fighting terrorism'. He has been doing what he can to clear the Kurdish areas of south east Turkey, and is now entering Syria to do the same, because he already has a Kurdish area on his border with northern Iraq and wants to stop the length of the border being Kurdish (despite the fact that the land is Kurdistan).

I was watching the Turkish ambassador in London being interviewed by John Snow on Ch4 news last night, and he just kept up this narrative of Kurds = terrorists. Because if you lie often enough...

The news gets worse and worse. notaflyingmonkey is right in what she says about Erdogan.

If there was ever a time the West had blood on our hands, this is it.

I am absolutely appalled at the murder of Hervin Khalaf. It’s all just so heartbreaking 💔

It is disgusting to betray the Kurds like this after they brought ISIS down. The ISIS terrorists are no longer a priority for the Kurds now that Trump has left them at the mercy of Erdogan who has lost no time attacking the Kurds. 100,000 refugees currently on the move because of this.

It’s hideous. The Kurds have been horrendously betrayed again.

I thought that about WWIII too Yolofish. The Turkish invasion reminded me of Italy invading Abyssinia prior to WWII, and Haile Selassie appealing to the League of Nations, who applied ineffective sanctions. The Kurds appealed to Trump, who has threatened sanctions but no action.

And apparently the US troops in Syria are horrified at being ordered to be inactive. They see it as being forced to betray loyal and steadfast allies.

Tbh you'd have to be a bit naive to think WW3 hasn't gradually been underway for years now. The global economy has had related shocks in the last decade and my sense is that things will get worse - escalation and widening of conflict and further and sustained economic deterioration. When will we wake up to the signs that our fellow humans in countries like Syria and Kurdistan are desperately sending us?