The Turkish Invasion of Kurdish Territories Was Illegal and Unjust: The Biden Administration Needs to Acknowledge This.
By Manon Fuchs
As the Trump presidency has come to an end, the new Biden administration is a sign of hope to the many disenfranchised Kurds in Iraq, Syria, and particularly, in Turkey. Whether or not President Biden will assert the rights of the Kurdish people is uncertain, considering Washington has an embarrassing track record of employing Kurdish fighters against enemy states and terrorist groups only to cast them aside when they request U.S. assistance.
Part of a series of illustrations of ink on paper by Kurdish activist, Deniz Aktaş
In October of 2019, former President Trump ordered the withdrawal of U.S. military troops in northern Syria. Ankara subsequently invaded Rojava, a region controlled by Kurdish fighters. This invasion destroyed the territory’s fragile peace, and, crucially, the consequent instability welcomed the return of the Islamic State to the region. [1] But, it was the American withdrawal which ultimately triggered Turkish aggression in Rojava, and its military operation “Peace Spring” [2] in October 2019 resulted in the mass displacement of over 100,000 Kurds. Neighboring states, in turn, face an influx of refugees—a condition which is not sustainable and is the fault of both Turkey, whose invasion introduced famine, disease outbreaks, and widespread violence in Rojava, and the U.S., whose withdrawal allowed for the invasion to take place.
Yet the complete disregard for the illegality of Turkey’s annexation of Rojava (according to international law) further highlights the foolishness of the Trump administration’s foreign policy. Specializing in the legal status of Kurdish territories, Loqman Radpey explains that under the UN charter, “the use of force is banned against peoples laying a claim to their right to self-determination.” [3] Turkey may not disenfranchise Kurdish people of their right to self-determination, and as such, the Kurds’ use of force is a legal exercise of self-defense against a hostile colonial state. Turkey, on the other hand, has illegally employed terrorist tactics through the physical and sexual violence against defenseless civilians [4] and destruction to residential areas, thereby risking the injury and death of countless Kurds.
The Trump and Obama administrations were eager to back the Syrian Democratic Forces (a majority Kurdish alliance opposing the Assad regime) against the Islamic State and Syrian government. However, it is vital that the new American administration recognize the SDF beyond its utility as a military tool [5] to fight against the Islamic State. It is within America’s best interest that the SDF maintain its stronghold as a political alternative to the Baathist Assad government, as well. For opposition fighters to emerge victorious and instate a new functioning government, the United States must prevent the fracturing of Kurdish forces by the Turkish military. As the threat of Turkey’s push into Kurdish zones continues, the instability and destruction to Kurdish groups will prevent the growth of a powerful political alternative to the Assad regime. Since the Assad regime refuses to compromise with the SDF and other opposition forces, the civil war in Syria will not end without decisive victory. Moreover, negotiation with invading ISIS forces proves infeasible for either side. If opposition forces are weakened, the civil war will continue, and with it, economic decline, destruction of infrastructure, and limited access to education.
What specifically can the Biden administration do to discourage Turkey’s violence and invasion of Kurdish territories? First, the Biden administration must characterize the Turkish invasion of Rojava as illegal and acknowledge the war crimes against Kurdish civilians. Second, the administration should increase pressure on Turkey by imposing economic sanctions against Ankara and its allies. At the same time, the administration should facilitate peace talks and diplomatic engagement between Kurdish groups and Turkey. Third, the administration must accept that Turkey is not the secular partner that its NATO allies once thought it was. Turkey is not a beacon of hope in a Middle Eastern sea of autocracy. As Erdogan advances toward dictatorship and increases his support of Islamist governments in Libya and Qatar, [6] the United States should seize every opportunity to diminish Turkish power and influence in the region.
But what should the administration avoid in its engagement with the Turkey-Kurdish conflict? The Biden administration should not spearhead the creation of a separate Kurdish state. American involvement in a nation-building project would inevitably anger both Turkey and Syria, leading to more violence and conflict. For Syria and Turkey, this would exemplify the United States as a colonial power, designing borders in a region separate from its own. If there is to be a separate Kurdish state, this must be undertaken by the Kurds themselves. Until then, it is imperative that the United States acknowledge and condemn the illegal actions of Turkey in its blatant war crimes against the Kurdish people.
References
[1] Hubbard, Ben, Charlie Savage, Eric Schmitt, and Patrick Kingsley. “Abandoned by U.S. in Syria, Kurds Find New Ally in American Foe,” New York Times. 23 Oct 2019. (link)
[2] Radpey, Loqman. “Assessing International Law on Self-Determination and Extraterritorial Use of Force in Rojava,” Lawfare. 13 Nov 2020. (link)
[3] Ibid.
[4] “Syria: Damning evidence of war crimes and other violations by Turkish forces and their allies,” Amnesty International. 18 Oct 2019. (link)
[5] Holmes, Amy Austin. “The United States Can Counter Putin and Assad With a Light Footprint in Syria,” Foreign Policy. 21 Oct 2020. (link)
[6] McShane, Roger. “New conflicts are already shaping an already volatile Middle East,” The World Ahead, The Economist. 17 Nov 2020. (link)