Although the Kurds have developed various alliances with the West and the USA in the last 100 years, it is stated that the feeling of being betrayed many times at historical turning points has created ruptures in Kurdish and Western relations.
According to the news compiled by Şarkul Avsat, here are the disappointments of the Kurds in the last century and the practices of the West, especially the USA, which are described as betrayal by the Kurds:
1- The Treaty of Sèvres, signed in 1920 after the Ottoman Empire’s defeat and collapse in the First World War, provided space for the Kurds in Turkey to establish autonomy in a region other than Syria, Iraq and Iran.
The Kurds were frustrated for the first time in the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne, after Ankara’s opposition and Washington’s support. Because the Treaty of Lausanne opened the door for Paris and London to share the Fertile Crescent in Syria and Iraq. This region promised to them by the great powers ultimately belonged to the Republic of Turkey.
Like the USA, the UK showed that they preferred to set aside the Kurdish Republic of Ağrı and establish relations with Ankara. Therefore, a large Kurdish migration took place from Turkey to neighboring countries in the south, particularly Rojava (northeast Syria). In fact, Baathist Damascus focuses on this issue of migration in its discourse against the Kurds, expressing that they are not Syrians.
2- After the USA came to power in 1958, it supported the Iraqi Kurds against the Abdul Karim Qasim regime, and then the coup in 1963 that overthrew it.
The new Baath regime in Iraq took a tough stance against the Kurds. When there was an influx into the Soviet Union, Washington collaborated with Tehran, then ruled by the Shah, in arming and supporting the Kurds in order to destabilize the situation in Iraq. This support of the USA to the Kurds was renewed after the signing of the Camp David Agreement and Egypt’s exit from the Arab equation in order to create unrest within Iraq. According to former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, the military support given to the Kurds was not aimed at the victory of the Kurds, but at weakening the sovereignty of Baghdad. The Bayık Commission’s report to the US Congress contained details on this issue and the claim that this policy was not passed on to the Kurdish collaborators, whom they encouraged to continue fighting.
The United States then sponsored an agreement recorded in December 1975 between Saddam Hussein, representing the former President of Iraq, Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr, and the Shah of Iran. Thus, with the approval of the new US President Gerald Ford administration, Tehran abandoned its support for the Iraqi Kurds.
3- Iraqi Kurds faced the betrayal of the USA many times in the 80s and 90s. President Roland Reagan’s administration remained silent on Baghdad’s use of chemical weapons in Iraqi Kurdistan.
The George H. W. Bush administration, which encouraged Iraqis to take action against Baghdad after the 1991 Gulf War, later abandoned them. Bush personally urged the Iraqi army and the Iraqi people to take matters into their own hands and force dictator Saddam Hussein to resign. But he didn’t do much when Shiites in southern Iraq and Kurds near the Syrian border revolted. In the second half of the 90s, the United States implemented an air embargo that allowed the Kurdish presence to increase. Meeting this rise of the Kurds with the coordination between Syria, Turkey and Iran has led to the emergence of ‘mini Kurdish states’ on the borders.
4- After the events of September 11, 2001, President George W. Bush gave the order to invade Iraq. After coordinating with them and their political leaders, the Kurds were among the main winners of Iraqi regime change. Its gains were consolidated as the US trusted them in the war against Daesh.
In 2017, Former Iraqi Kurdish Regional Government President Masoud Barzani took a step towards the establishment of the Kurdish entity and wanted to benefit from the support of the International Coalition, thus holding a referendum for the region’s self-determination and independence. However, the United States has openly expressed its reservations about this step.
5- After the change in Iraq in 2003 and the Kurdish presence, in March 2004, the Syrian Kurds, whose ambitions became green again, revolted. However, their movements did not receive any support from the West. The US and its allies supported Ankara’s stance when Turkey mobilized its army on the Syrian borders in 1998 and demanded the deportation of PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan from Damascus. The PKK is on the terrorist lists of Western countries. The PKK maintained security coordination between Damascus and Ankara until protests erupted in Syria in 2011 after Öcalan’s exit from Syria.
stuck in it. However, in 2011 Damascus decided to pave the way for the Kurds against other opposition.
6- Thus, while the Kurds gained strength, Damascus became weak. In the fight against ISIS, which became more comprehensive after 2014, the US allied with the Kurds, providing them with military support and air cover. This support was mainly based on the YPG. Thanks to the cooperation between the International Coalition and the Kurds, an area has been created that allows self-government, military power and control over a quarter of the Syrian region after the defeat of ISIS, and to seize most of the strategic wealth in the northeast of the country.
Upon the emergence of Rojava (Western Kurdistan), Ankara, Damascus and Tehran reacted. Thus, turning its priorities in Syria from ‘overthrowing the regime’ to operations on Syrian territory, Turkey made agreements with Russia in 2016, 2018 and 2019. These agreements ensured the fragmentation of Kurdish groups in Rojava and their access to Mediterranean waters.
7- Former US President Donald Trump decided to withdraw US forces from the borders of Syria and Turkey in late 2019. The Kurds, on the other hand, evaluated this decision as a ‘US betrayal’. Thus, the recorded Turkish influence shook the foundations of the Autonomous Administration. After intense negotiations, agreements were signed between the USA and Turkey and between Turkey and Russia. Thus, Ankara received a commitment from the two great powers to withdraw the YPG from the borders to a depth of 30 km.
Nerina Azad
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