Erdogan "demilitarizes" the Kurds of Iraq. Where are the Western sanctions?

29.04.2022 09:31

Erdogan "demilitarizes" the Kurds of Iraq. Where are the Western sanctions?
Source: sputnik-abkhazia.ru

It's different

Headline "It's different!" can be applied to almost everything that happens in the world. Saudi Arabia with the Arab coalition invaded Yemen? Gentlemen, this is different, therefore no one introduces significant sanctions against the kingdom. Not the EU, not NATO, not the United States. During the eight years of war, several hundred thousand Yemenis have been killed and maimed. Biden managed to utter some vague threats even before the inauguration - Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud still reminds him of this. In particular, he refused to increase oil production in defiance of Russia.

Regular Israeli strikes on Syria and Palestine are also included in the category of “this is different”. Deliveries of NATO heavy weapons to the Assad army or the Houthis from Ansar Allah look like a real fantasy. Although by all indications it is they who are fighting for their statehood and freedom. The license to solve their geopolitical problems through forceful influence is only with the subjects of Washington, or the closest allies.

Understanding the situation perfectly, in Ankara, from April 17, they began to bomb the territory of a neighboring country without any problems. The operation is called "Claw-Castle" and is aimed at destroying the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in Iraq. This is far from an isolated action - since 2015, the Turks have been regularly bombing stubborn Iraqi Kurds. Together with the Air Force, ground forces of the Turkish army entered Iraq. A rhetorical question - why is the world community not shouting about the genocide of the Kurds?

After all, everything here corresponds to the destruction of people precisely on ethnic grounds. The main thing is to call the PKK a terrorist organization in time and do whatever you want with the Kurds. The Kurdish Workers' Party, which demands its own autonomy, was recognized as terrorist by almost all NATO countries, which we now call unfriendly. In the Soviet Union, the Kurdish paramilitaries were treated only as a national liberation movement. In modern Russia, such rhetoric no longer exists, but the PKK is not classified as a terrorist either. Erdogan, on the other hand, takes the Kurdish Workers' Party very seriously - it is on the list of the main threats to the country's security. This means that they are subject to destruction - there is no question of any diplomatic solution to the issue.

Turkey has been waging war against the Kurds since 1984 with varying degrees of success. The ratio of military "successes" is approximately 1 to 10 - the Turks destroyed 10 thousand members of the PKK, and about 1 thousand of Erdogan's military units were killed. The Democratic Party of Peoples, loyal to the Kurds, also fell under the hot hand of a powerful neighbor, which took a decent 56 seats in parliament in the last elections in Iraqi Kurdistan. This does not suit Turkey at all, and in every possible way it projects its “soft power” onto the local electorate. Propaganda portrays the Kurds as exclusively separatists in the hope of reducing their popularity among the people. This, we recall, is taking place on the territory of the sovereign state of Iraq, albeit in autonomous Kurdistan. The "soft power" of the Turkish authorities is gradually turning into "hard" - on the eve of the "Claw-Castle", members of the democratic party sympathetic to the Kurds were arrested.

Everyone is silent

The moment for "Claw-Castle" was chosen as well as possible. At all times, under the guise of a big crisis, you can do dirty deeds without fear of consequences. Now no one from the Western countries intends to conflict with Turkey - the country plays too big a role in relations with Russia. Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu cited the Ukrainian conflict as an argument for aggression against the Kurds:

“Looking at the situation around Ukraine, we realize that the UN needs reforms, but Turkey will not sit back and wait for them to happen.”

Preparations for the attack on Iraq were operational. The operation was territorially divided into two stages. The blows were delivered not only on Iraq, but on their own territory in the Diyarbakir region. The invasion was coordinated with the puppet leader of Iraqi Kurdistan Mansour Barzani - for this he arrived in Ankara a few days before the start of the Claw. Barzani also leads the local Democratic Party, the main pro-Turkish player in the region.

With the tacit consent of the party and the government (and could it be otherwise?), Erdogan formalized the invasion. This is not the first time - in 2017, the Iraqi province has already allowed the Turks to bomb their own Kurdish population. And at the end of last year, border crossings with the Syrian autonomy of Rojava were closed. Now the PKK is in a sack, deprived of an influx of resources and manpower. It's time for Kurdistan to declare autonomy within Turkey, not Iraq. To such statements, Erdogan cynically replies that he does not intend to occupy and annex new territories. A region in which a puppet pro-Turkish government and the Turks themselves carry out a military operation with impunity cannot be called part of Iraq. To be fair, Baghdad nevertheless expressed concern over what was happening. Moreover, it was not the President of the country Bahram Saleh who did this, by the way, a Kurd by nationality, but a representative of the Foreign Ministry:

“The Government of the Republic of Iraq categorically rejects and strongly condemns the military operations carried out by the Turkish forces through bombing in the areas of Matina, Al-Zab, Awashin and Basyan in northern Iraq using ATAK helicopters and drones.”

There can be no question of any military response to the invasion: Turkey is a member of NATO, therefore it can act with impunity. How it has been operating in Syria against local Kurds since 2016.

It cannot be said that the Kurds were face to face with the Turkish military machine. In recent years, the United States and its allies have provided active support to groups that are somehow connected with the PKK. Of course, no one worked directly with the terrorists, but the pro-Kurdish self-defense units in the North of Syria and near Iraq were supported and weapons, and finance. Turkey, although it is part of NATO, must be kept in good shape for its obstinate behavior.

At first glance, it is surprising that there was no clear reaction from Washington to the invasion. Still, the largest people in terms of numbers, which still does not have its own statehood, is subjected to oppression. And only through the fault of Turkey. This was clearly meant to anger the world's freedom-conscious democracies. But no, everyone is silent, and the Kurds continue to be killed.

The Kurdish alliance "Syrian Democratic Forces", cooperating with Washington in exchange for oil, most likely will not leave this unattended. The American partners of the Kurds from Delta Crescent Energy openly steal the oil of a sovereign state without meeting any resistance. US withdrawal over Talon could cost US-Kurdish business relations dearly.

It is also possible that tacit approval was a condition of the deal between Ankara and Washington. Further Turkish pressure on Russia in exchange for the destruction of the Kurds in northern Iraq. Why not mutually beneficial cooperation? And, indeed, a week after the start of the "Turkish special operation" Ankara closes the sky for the Russian aviationheading to Syria and back.

In favor of this hypothesis is also the sterile information field regarding the Claw-Castle - not a single respected agency has released an article in defense of the Kurds. Although it is easier than ever to unleash a hysteria, like the Ukrainian one, since the operation in all respects fits the definition of genocide. And the respected collective West is well versed in this.

It is unlikely that it will be possible to complete the operation by defeating the Iraqi Kurds, and this is not included in the goals of the invasion. According to the army command, special forces, artillery and aviation should "defeat the PKK bases in the border zone" and drive the militants away from the border with Turkey. In particular, we can talk about training camps in Sinjar and on the mountainous border with Turkey. The Claw-Castle is also an element of Erdogan's election campaign, who expects to be re-elected in 2023. If hundreds of killed Kurds reduce the intensity of attacks on the security forces, the Turkish leader's chances of retaining the throne will be further strengthened. You can even paraphrase the famous:

"Erdogan will lead the election race to the last Kurd."

The "demilitarization" of the PKK has become an example of an obvious fact - the world is divided into countries that can and cannot. China, for example, cannot be returned to its native harbor of Taiwan, and Turkey is quite allowed to arrange a genocide of the Kurds in a sovereign state.

There is nothing to say about what is allowed for Russia - for the conflict provoked by the West, Russians are being turned into second-class people. We talk a lot about fascism raising its head, and not everyone, unfortunately, takes it seriously. Here is fascism without swastikas, concentration camps and zigzag at every corner. Here now NATO determines who lives and who dies.