I apologize for the deluge of "agree" notifications, Jaicee, but I've been out of the thread for a while and you've been the strongest voice of reason in here on the Kurds, as well as the strongest voice of justice, so I couldn't help myself.
Everyone is making a big deal out of that letter like it isn't at the same level of maturity and command of the English language as everything else that comes out of his mouth.
The first instance of this being called what it is, genocide, by a member of Congress that I've seen so far:
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2019/10/18/turkeys-war-syrian-kurds-approaching-genocide-blumenthal-says/4021680002/
Here is the commander in chief of the SDF, calling it a genocide, and explaining why they feel forced to turn to Russia and Assad for help now:
https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/10/13/kurds-assad-syria-russia-putin-turkey-genocide/
From that latter article:
"President Donald Trump has been promising for a long time to withdraw U.S. troops. We understand and sympathize. Fathers want to see their children laughing on their laps, lovers want to hear the voices of their partners whispering to them, everyone wants to go back to their homes.
We, however, are not asking for American soldiers to be in combat. We know that the United States is not the world police. But we do want the United States to acknowledge its important role in achieving a political solution for Syria. We are sure that Washington has sufficient leverage to mediate a sustainable peace between us and Turkey.
We believe in democracy as a core concept, but in light of the invasion by Turkey and the existential threat its attack poses for our people, we may have to reconsider our alliances. The Russians and the Syrian regime have made proposals that could save the lives of millions of people who live under our protection. We do not trust their promises. To be honest, it is hard to know whom to trust.
What’s clear is that the threat of the Islamic State is still present in a network of sleeper cells capable of mounting an insurgency. The large number of Islamic State prisoners in inadequate confinement are like a ticking time bomb that might explode at any time.
We know that we would have to make painful compromises with Moscow and Bashar al-Assad if we go down the road of working with them. But if we have to choose between compromises and the genocide of our people, we will surely choose life for our people."
Edit: Also, fun fact, this isn't the Kurdish people's first genocide, so they're not going to throw that term around lightly:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anfal_genocide
Last edited by HylianSwordsman - on 19 October 2019
