Comments by "David H" (@DavidHalko) on "Turkey Closes in on Kurdish Militants, Threatening Regional Shake Up" video.
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[Or Ka] -“US and EU imperialism”
[David] - “Ummm… PKK is designated at a terrorist organization in the US, for a very long time.”
@orka6848 - “I’m… living there”
If you’re living there, then you would know that the PKK was designated as a terrorist organization and suggesting that a terrorist organization designation, at the request of Turkey, is in any way related to imperialism, is nonsensical.
There is no way for the US to colonize Turkey by designating the PKK as a terrorist organization. The designation is a request by Turkey, to cooperate with Turkey, in Turkey’s protection of it’s citizens.
There is no way for the EU to colonize Turkey by designating the PKK as a terrorist organization. The designation is a request by Turkey, to cooperate with Turkey, in Turkey’s protection of it’s citizens.
Turkey is an EU partner, by treaties initiated by Turkey. Turkey repeatedly initiating relations with the EU has nothing to do with the EU colonizing Turkey.
Where did you ever get the idea that designating a terrorist organizations and cooperating with Turkey, when Turkey is requesting cooperation, is somehow trying to colonize Turkey?
I am uncertain how anyone can reasonably come to that conclusion through formal logic.
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@option7 - “PKK helped US fight ISIS”
The PKK’s grievance is in Turkey is when Turks in power decided to choose the path of Genocide, by outlawing the Kurdish spoken language, written language in newspapers, and audio/video broadcast media in their borders. PKK attacking civilians, is just as bad as the state run genocide by Turkish Nationalists. Neither can be condoned, and any attacks on civilian populations by the Turk government or Kurd Paramilitary groups are reprehensible!
That being said, what is happening in Syria is much different. The Arab Islamic State terrorists were targeting non-Arab groups within Syria & Turkey. The US provided assistance to indigenous Yazidi peoples of Syria, but they were unable to defend themselves, with large segments of their population ending up in mass graves & sex slave auctions to the Islamic State fighters. The US provided assistance to the YPG & PYD, who also accepted & trained surviving fighters other groups including Yazidi, Shiite, moderate Sunni, and other groups targeted for summery destruction… while the PKK remained north of the border in Turkey & unsupported.
Helping an indigenous people [Kurdish people in Syria & North Iraq] survive extermination [by the Arab Islamic State] and kick out the aggressor terrorist organization [who had a documented history of extermination of minorities] through assistance, and then later ramping down support once the threat had expired, is far from Imperialism.
The buffer zone created by Turkey along the Syrian border and US withdrawal of forces after the objective of Islamic State suppression demonstrates that imperialism was not in the U.S. cards. Actually, the statements by former President Trump regarding the withdrawal officially stated the US expected Turkey & Russia & Syria to take up the vacuum along the border, so the Northern Syria policy was clearly an anti-US imperialist policy.
Russia did help fill some of the gaps, along the Syrian northern border, so it could be perceived as Russian Imperialism, along the Turkish border… but you seemed to omit that clearly resulting Russian Imperialism at the Turkish border, in your writing regarding imperialism. With the Young Turk’s WW1 extermination of Orthodox Byzantines (the Armenian & Assyrian Genocide) within the Ottoman border, they shifted their power (through extermination) to Moscow from Constantinople. The Turk’s obsession with Genocide created a stronger Russian influence, resulting in Russian imperialism in Syria. This was an unfortunate miscalculation for Turkey, which they are making the exact same mistake with the Kurds. 🫣
Suggesting that US helping the victims of incurring Genocide is imperialism is the likening a bystander trying to stop a rapist from raping a woman, assisting in the imprisonment of the rapist, granting the rape victim emancipation, and then others calling the rescue a “policy of extending power and influence through diplomacy or military force”. It is a crazy association. It makes no sense. The imperialism association is flawed, at it’s core.
Indigenous people must be allowed to co-exist in society, without threat or practice of extermination thrust upon them. The actions of the Arab Islamic State was abhorrent, and support for a sizable indigenous group to fight for their own survival is admirable. Turkey’s previous genocide created Russian imperialism at their border. Continued Turkic genocide of Kurds may create additional imperialism… while Turkey changing their tune to this suppressed minority group could actually enhance Turkey’s influence in the region.
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