After Donald Trump announced on Monday that United States troops currently stationed along the Turkey-Syria border, where they fought ISIS, will move out, Turkey quickly proceeded with a massive military operation in the region.
On Wednesday Turkey began bombing and advancing its armies into the Kurdish-controlled areas of Northern Syria. President Erdogan intends to clear the area of what he calls Kurdish terrorists and then use the empty land as a “buffer zone” where he can resettle the millions of Syrian refugees currently in Turkey.
The Kurdish people are a large ethnic group that does not have an independent state. They are spread around the territories of Turkey, Syria, and Iraq. They have been fighting for independence for decades, but Turkey severely opposes that, unwilling to give them any of its territory.
Most recently, the Kurdish people were US allies and helped fight against the Islamic State and other jihadist forces in the region. However, as Donald Trump - against all military advice - decided to effectively abandon them, they have now become victims of the Turkish military.
The Syrian government, on the other hand, has stated its disapproval of Turkey’s actions. It also said that all Kurdish and Syrian refugees are welcome to return to Syria.
Donald Trump’s decision to move the US forces out of the region could prove monumentally terrible. Both Democrats and Republicans advised against it, stating that the region is still not entirely safe. ISIS was only defeated in March this year and without the US military there, jihadists could regroup and start causing more havoc again. If this happens, Trump will be in large part to blame.
