Erdogan says Turkey not to allow Kurdish state in northern Syria

[Bosonic]

Source: Todays Zaman

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said his country will not allow the establishment of an independent state in northern Syria, once again voicing Turkey's concerns of a Kurdish autonomous region being formed in the void left by Islamic of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in the region.

“I am appealing to the whole world. We will never allow the establishment of a state in Syria’s north and our south. We will continue our fight in this regard no matter what it costs. They want to complete the operation to change the demographic structure of the region. We will not turn a blind eye to this,” Erdoğan said during a fast-breaking dinner hosted by Kızılay (Turkish Red Crescent) on Friday.

Turkey, a country with its own sizable Kurdish minority, is uncomfortable with the gains made by Kurdish militia in Syria, fearing it could inflame separatist sentiment among its own Kurdish population.

Ankara has frequently expressed concern over the dominance of the US-backed Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) in northern Syria. It accuses the Kurdish militia of deliberately attempting an ethnic cleansing of the area in a bid to change the demographic balance of the region in favor of the Kurds.

Read more: http://www.todayszaman.com/diplomacy_erdogan-says-turkey-not-to-allow-kurdish-state-in-northern-syria_392105.html

[Maedhros]

1. I love how we and our NATO allies think we can decide which countries get to exist

and which do not.

[Snow Leopard]

6. Someone probably has to

Might as well be us. The alternatives are worse.

[Maedhros]

8. I'd say the Kurds should have a leg up in this case.

Let people be governed how they want to be governed.

[Comrade Grumpy]

9. And northeast Syria is their county, not Erdogan's.

[Maedhros]

10. And the reason they don't have their own homeland is probably the result

of French and English colonial meddling.

[Comrade Grumpy]

11. They got screwed after World War I.

[Cheese Sandwich]

2. Turkey is aiding ISIS, allows ISIS recruits to cross border and even attack Kurds from Turkish side

Syrian Kurds are not fighting for a state, only for local control, democracy and human rights.

[Berlin Expat]

3. It's becoming ever more clear

that Erdogan needs to go. It's pretty obvious to anyone that he's covertly siding with Da'esh owing to 1) his singular obsession with overthrowing Bashar al-Assad and 2) Turkey's long-running conflict with the PKK. The Turks see the PYD and the YPG as simply Syrian branches of the PKK. Thus, Erdogan would rather see the northern part of Syria ruled by ISIS.

Turkey needs to decide who's side they're on. If Erdogan believes that he can contain ISIS, he's badly mistaken.

[independentpiney]

4. I haven't trusted Turks since I saw Yellow Submarine

Seriously though, the Kurds deserve their own nation, including the areas currently controlled by Turkey.

[bemildred]

5. Hey, Erdogan, you dumb ass, you wanted to get rid of Assad, you supported ISIS. nt

[Comrade Grumpy]

7. Turkey has been a really baleful influence in all this.

Erdogan is obsessed with overthrowing Assad.

He has encouraged the death and destruction next door, and probably actively aided and abetted it.

He turns a blind eye to ISIS and restricts coalition efforts to go after them.

Why he thinks Turkey has any right to determine what goes on in northeast Syria is beyond me.