agree you've identified all the areas of Turkish concern ( and then some -good job)
How can we pressure Turkey to not kill Kurds? I don't see how we can -if so us being in Syria doesn't fulfill that goal. Meaning us staying there is the only way to keep Turkey from going on a border crossing.
Should we stay in Syria to check Turkey's move, even with the benefit of keeping ISIS from"reforming"
For how long?
Are you willing to make it a permanent presence? *because that's what happens more often then not*
Russians are in control of Syria with their partners. It's not ours to "hand over"
Turkey/Erdogan has come to terms with Iraqi Kurdistan (Southern Kurdistan). Iraqi Kurdistan is an autonomous region of Iraq. Syrian Kurdistan (Western Kurdistan) wants the same/similar arrangement within Syria, an autonomous region.
"In Turkish political circles, there is a popular quip: "The United States wanted Turkey and Iraq's Kurds to become friends, not get married."1 As their cooperation deepens, especially in hydrocarbons, observers increasingly question whether the relationship will endure. A solid strategic relationship is born of shared national interests, mutual respect and real interdependence. Fleeting cooperation, in contrast, stems from a temporary confluence of political interests, typically dependent on the personalities and preferences of leaders who may fall from power in the foreseeable future. Such cooperation can fulfill pressing needs, but both parties know the arrangement will be discarded in short order.
Have Ankara and Erbil become real partners? For a variety of reasons, the relationship between the two likely represents an emergent strategic alliance more than a temporary marriage. Shared national interests appear particularly strong, while mutual respect and interdependence have been growing. Many longtime observers of Turkey have difficulty coming to terms with such a shift. Since its founding in 1923, the Turkish Republic could always be depended upon to oppose anything Kurdish anywhere in the world. When the United States first overthrew Saddam Hussein's regime in 2003, Turkey worried most about how this might facilitate Kurdish secession from Iraq. However, the nature of Turkey and its priorities and views of the Kurds have changed since Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (Adalet ve Kalkinma Partisi,AKP) came to power in 2002."
https://www.mepc.org/iraqi-kurdistan-and-turkey-temporary-marriage
anatta: "Russians are in control of Syria with their partners. It's not ours to "hand over" "
Jack: The SDF, backed by the United States, is in control of northeast Syria (Rojava), land east of the Euphrates. They have a secular, democratic government there. Respect for religious and ethnic diversity. If the US leaves, we are effectively "handing over" this budding example of what the Middle East could be.
"The Democratic Federation of Northern Syria (DFNS), formerly and still commonly known as Rojava, is a de facto autonomous region in northern Syria. It consists of three self-governing regions:[5] Afrin Region, Jazira Region, and Euphrates Region.[6] The region gained its de facto autonomy in 2012[7] as part of the ongoing Rojava conflict and the wider Syrian Civil War. While entertaining some foreign relations, the DFNS is not officially recognized as autonomous by the government of Syria or any international state or organization.[8][9]
Northern Syria is polyethnic and home to sizeable ethnic Kurdish, Arab, Assyrian-Syriac, and Turkmen populations; with smaller communities of ethnic Armenians and Chechens.[10][11] Parts of northeastern Syria are regarded by Kurdish nationalists as Western Kurdistan (Kurdish: Rojavayê Kurdistanê),[12] one of the four parts of Greater Kurdistan.[13] Much of Northern Syria is also considered by Syriac-Assyrians as Gozarto (meaning Upper Mesopotamia), part of the historical Syriac-Assyrian homeland."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Federation_of_Northern_Syria
[/IMG]
