A strange new name has been popping up in the news recently. All of a sudden headlines such as "Is this the end for the Kurds?" or "What has Trump done?" have bombarded news and social media outlets. But who are the Kurds? And why have we never heard of them?
Flashback a few centuries and it’s astounding what the Kurds accomplished in the Middle East. Originating from the mountainous lands of ancient Mesopotamia, the Kurds have always been a formidable fighting force, establishing glorious dynasties as early as the tenth century and conquering most of the Middle East and northern Africa as their own kingdom, Kurdistan.
(Kurdish Empire under renowned sultan Saladin, 1193)
A few hundred years later, the Kurdish empire has dramatically changed. Occupying vast territories in Iraq, Iran, Syria, and Armenia, the population of thirty-two million forms the fourth-largest ethnic group in the Middle East yet call themselves a minority in every country they inhabit. The downfall of the Kurds can be traced back to two men hidden deep in an underground bunker drawing out the stage that would host the vast majority of the world’s conflict to this day. The Sykes-Picot agreement enabled the British and French, victors of the first world war to use their colonial power to design a new modern orient, one that would benefit Europe immensely and disregard ethnic populations like the Kurds.
Without a Kurdistan to call their own, the Kurds have endured a hundred years of horrific treatment. (The most obvious example being the genocide of 50,000 Kurdish civilians and the destruction of hundreds of villages in Iraq by Saddam Hussein in 1988.) Yet recently, in the midst of the Syrian war, the Kurds have fought back, trying to create their own independent nation in northern Syria (despite ISIS’s strong presence in the area).
Carving their territory with the blood of their people, the Syrian Kurds established a stronghold in northern Syria and called it Rojava. The Kurdish drive to end a century’s worth of oppression was such that their militia, the People's Protection Unit (YPG), proved to be lethal fighters against ISIS. The American military quickly took notice of the YPG and joined forces to combat their common enemy. Backed by the powerful American military, Rojava expanded its territory and has become a beacon for liberty and democracy in the Middle East while eradicating ISIS from the area.
This alliance seemed to be a match made in heaven — the Americans were able to once again send a third party into the firefights and the Kurds were able to effectively fight for their newfound country. Yet following a late-night phone call with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, United States President Donald Trump ordered the immediate withdrawal of American troops in northern Syria, essentially giving Erdoğan the green light to unleash the ninth-most-powerful army in the world against a handful of hopeful militants. In short, the Turkish offensive ironically dubbed Operation Olive Branch has killed over nine-hundred Kurds and displaced over 300,000 more. The violence was finally paused due to a cease-fire that President Trump claims to have orchestrated. Mitch McConnell and Marco Rubio, two republicans who have traditionally supported even the rashest of Trump’s decisions, have reportedly called this decision the biggest mistake in his political career.
Trump’s blatant betrayal of the Kurds has not only doomed an entire population but has lead to far more drastic outcomes. Turkey is a NATO ally of the United States, and the fact that President Trump has allowed them to run over another American ally will have dire consequences for NATO's image and for other American allies who benefit from American protection much like the Kurds did. Furthermore, As soon as the Americans pulled out of Syria Russian troops in alliance to President Erdoğan began to occupy the area. Although Russian intentions are not clear, their growing influence in the Middle East could mean an end to the American era in the Middle East and the beginning of a new one governed by Vladimir Putin.