Turkey prepares new assault on Syrian Kurdistan: Letter to Biden

Turkey prepares new assault on Syrian Kurdistan: An open letter to president Biden — Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan (L) with U.S. President Joe Biden during the G-20 leaders summit, Rome, Italy, October 31, 2021. Photo: AP

Dr. Amir Sharifi | Exclusive to iKurd.net

Dear Mr. President:

I have admired you for your frank political stance. For this reason, I voted for you as you challenged autocracies of all kinds including Donald Trump’s near coup to topple American democracy with the support of fascist forces.

Internationally, I recall vividly your brave denouncement of both Erdogan and Trump in 2020 in defense of American and Western values. In rebuking Trump’s stance against the Syrian Democratic Forces- the courageous Kurds and Arabs, [who] fought with us to smash ISIS’s caliphate, you added, Trump “betrayed a key local ally in the fight against terrorism.”

Now again Erdogan, a notorious autocrat who has imprisoned thousands of people in Turkey and threatened U.S and Europe, intends to brutalize and suppress Kurdish people in their lands in Western Syria (Rojava) with help from Russia once again. The world knows as you predicted what happened to the innocent and defenseless residents of the once predominantly Kurdish city of Afrin. The same tragic fate is awaiting hundreds of thousands of Kurds and non-Kurds in Syria when Turkey is allowed to move forward with its impending atrocities against a plural democracy that celebrates diversity of ethnicities, religions, and gender equality .

Erdogan has a purpose in bringing another dictator, Putin to the table to win yet another victory against the Kurds. This is the same Erdogan who despite the American and European objections and in blatant opposition to NATO purchased S-400 Russian missiles. Turkey is one of the few countries that has remained against military and financial sanctions of Russia during the brutal invasion of Ukraine. Now in collaboration with Russia, Erdogan intends to reverse the Kurdish and global gains against ISIS and a tyrannical system in Syria; he intends to put an end to Syrian Democratic Front (SDF), our allies in the international coalition. We cannot and should not allow him to carry out his evil plan to stifle the plural democracy and to lodge yet another ferocious ethnic cleansing to expel hundreds of thousands of Kurdish villagers and residents of towns from their historical rights to their land, immersing the area into more violence and bloodshed for years to come.

As the President who stood up to Trump’s near coup, you should not let this brutal assault happen. It is clear that Erdogan does not want to save any one from starvation as Turkey has claimed in the meeting with Russian foreign minister to ship Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea. This ostensibly humanitarian gesture has haunted us all as it is intended to seek the Russian permission to allow another Turkish invasion with help from Pan-Islamist and Ottoman forces. Such an invasion will terrorize the Kurds, the likes of which we have seen in previous tragedies. You should oppose this occupation as you did as a presidential candidate, but this time in practice as it emboldens all our adversaries.

Mr. President, Americans supported Ukrainian fight for freedom, most Americans also know how brutal Erdogan’s designs are. His bodyguards brought this aggression and violence to American capitol not in a distant past. Although there are many things for you to address, we cannot afford to isolate ourselves and let Turkey destroy what we have accomplished in Rojava. You can issue a statement of protest and express your explicit support for and commitment to our allies that Erdogan is keen on destroying and any semblance of democracy anywhere in the world. Embargoes against Turkey should be expanded not removed. This is a political struggle between a plural democracy and Erdogan’s ruthless autocracy to which neither you nor NATO members can remain oblivious.

You should say no to another betrayal of our allies as you put it succinctly. President Trump “sold out” American-allied Kurdish fighters and “betrayed our word as a nation” by giving way to a Turkish bombardment in northeast Syria. This is bound to happen soon and again if you do not put a stop to it in practice. Mr, President, as you lead America to stand with Ukrainian people in defence of their historical land and against the brutal atrocities of Putin forces, it is as imperative for us as Americans to stand with Kurdish people against Erdogan’s perpetual aggressions against Kurds in their historical lands.

Sincerely

Dr. Amir Sharifi

Dr Amir Sharifi, Co-Director of the Kurdish Human Rights Advocacy Group ( KHRAG), Los Angeles.

The opinions are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of iKurd.net or its editors.