Well, I as a Turk read all the posts under this thread and have been trying to formulate a coherent and succinct text to address all the issues raised. I guess it's a task far beyond the limitations of my intellect and knowledge of English language.
Thus, let me pour my thoughts as it comes in. I may elaborate further based on your replies.
First of all, lets clarify what "Syrian Kurds" mean.
Check the following link, in which you will find a map showing ethnic identity of every settlement in self-acclaimed Rojava.
https://qgiscloud.com/AriyanNewzad/Ethn ... %2C4530510Green dots indicate Kurdish settlements, lilac dots indicate Arabic, pink dots show mixed settlements.
At the onset of the Syrian civil war, when there was no Rojava, there were three geographically separate Kurdish cantons on where green dots concentrate on the map; Afrin in the west, Kobane in the middle, and Jazera in the East. There was a brief period of time that many local political parties appeared in these cantons, and PKK was one of the weakest among them.
That changed when large number of armed PKK militants quickly moved from Northern Iraq into Syria, violently subdue all other political factions and turn the region into their own North Korea.
You all know the rest of the story that how Russian involvement turned the scales in favor of Assad's regime against rebels as well as ISIS, How USA quickly formed an alliance with SDF (re-branded version of PKK), armed them to teeth, and, under US air force cover, made them quickly invade ISIS held territories on the east bank of Euphrates before Assad would.
First purpose of this introduction so far is to establish the fact that SDF controlled lands of Syria is predominantly Arabic, i.e Kurds constitute barely 1/4th to 1/3rd of the population in those lands.
Second is: SDF rules over those land with a mandate manufactured at gunpoint. Rejection of this mandate means intimidation, persecution, displacement and sometimes death.
And, do not think that rejection comes from Arabic majority alone. Many Syrian Kurds, quite likely majority of them, are not supporting SDF’s rule either. According to Turkish authorities, there are 3.6 million Syrian refuges (~15% of whole Syrian population) in Turkey. Among them, there are approximately 300k Kurdish Syrians (~15% of whole Syrian Kurdish population.)
In other words, SDF is as successful as Assad’s regime in pushing Syrian people out of Syria.
While these are the facts on the ground, we are offered multitude of photographs displaying young, cheerful Kurdish girls holding Kalashnikovs and how SDF represents a modern and secular alternative to Islamic extremism.
Well, I am old enough to remember the Rambo film beatifying Afghan freedom fighters struggling against evil Russian communists. And you all remember multitude of reports on how young, dynamic and reformist the crown prince of Saudi Arabia was. Those Afghan freedom fighters later performed the attacks of 9/11. And reformist crown prince since then manifests himself with beheading of Shias, crucifying apostates, raping and torturing female activists and killing, dismembering a Saudi journalist as well as dissolving his corpse in pieces in acid.
What I am trying to say is: don’t fool yourselves. Proper antithesis of Islamic extremism is nothing but democratic and secular constitution and civil code. And rule of law. No Hollywood movies, or high profile propaganda articles in newspapers or photographs showing cheerful young women can function as substitutes.
I have no whatsoever confidence in PKK militants (or whatever re-branded version of it) that they do not pose a threat against Turkey. No other country on earth can provide such a guarantee on their behalf either. Terrorists are terrorists regardless of you name them PKK, or SDF, or YPG, or PYD and they cannot be negotiated as long as they hold their guns towards us.
Our western allies may dislike the Turkish position on this matter, but it is their problem, not of ours.
Since France has the right of fighting terrorism in Mali, thousands of kilometers away from her own soil, in order to avoid fighting it in the streets of Marseilles, we Turks have all the rights to fight terrorism just outside our borders in order to avoid fighting it in our own cities and streets.
As for the threats of arms embargoes flying around and whatnot, I not only would not bother, but also will be happy about it. (I am still enjoying that we have been removed from the multi trillion dollar worth failure called f-35 project) Years ago, when Turkey was subjected to extensive arms embargo following the Cyprus war, it founded many defense companies. 4 of them are now in Top100 list of global defense industries.
Come what may, do or die. :P
And finally, as for the threats of removing Turkey from NATO. Very entertaining indeed.
Since Turkey is one of the barely two NATO countries having an army possessing the capacity and capability of “fighting” wars, I would not attach too much hope on such wild ideas, if I were you.
That said, let me humor you, and say it happens. What will you gain out of it except a high service medal from Putin.
Cheers,
BONUS: Few short videos for your entertainment, if you enjoy exposition of hypocrisy.