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US is giving weapons to PKK in Syria. PKK has been considered a terrorist organization both by US and EU for a very long time, I mean decades. They are giving w

US is giving weapons to PKK in Syria. PKK has been considered a terrorist organization both by US and EU for a very long time, I mean decades. They are giving weapons under the pretext of fighting ISIS. Among the weapons given there are surface to air anti-aircraft missiles. Strange thing is that ISIS does not have any aircraft to shoot down. The amount of weapon delivery as of last week is about 13,000 containers. Hard to believe, right?

forapurpose 9y ago
The PKK is a far more complex issue. Their mission is self-determination for Kurdish people. After WWI, the Allied powers split the region where the Kurds reside, their hoped-for Kurdistan, between Turkey, Iraq, and Syria. They have faced oppression and worse (e.g., Iraq murdered Kurdish civilians with chemical weapons in the 1980s) from these governments for generations. In Iraq: In the contest with Saddam Hussein, at least beginning in the 1990s, the U.S. built a strong relationship with the Kurds there. The Kurds used U.S. support to create de facto autonomy from the Iraqi government (something they are voting on in a couple of weeks - potentially a major event in Kurdish history). They became a skilled combat force and strong allies of the U.S., fighting alongside the Americans through the Iraq War and now in the fight against ISIL. In Syria: My impression is that the relationship between the U.S. and the Iraqi Kurds extends now, with the Syrian civil war, to the Kurds in Syria. Like those in Iraq, the Syrian Kurds also have used their government's weakness to establish some autonomy. In Turkey: There is no government weakness and no autonomy, but an ongoing contest with crackdowns, terrorist attacks, and more. The Turkish government calls the PKK 'terrorists', but the government's hands are hardly clean. The Turkish government does not want autonomous Kurdish regions in Syria and Iraq, both of which would border the Kurdish region in Turkey and would encourage and support Turkish Kurds. Are the PKK terrorists? Freedom fighters? Some of each? I can't tell you. But certainly they have some argument for seeking self-determination in the face of oppression, and unlike groups such as ISIL their goal is self-determination for their own people, not to bring down governments and to take land and liberty from others.
- mengibar10 9y ago
  In that case, can we then draw the conclusion that US is giving PKK all these weapons for a purpose beyond fighting ISIS?
  - riku_iki 9y ago
    Are all kurds members of PKK? Is there any evidence that US is giving these weapons specifically to PKK?
    - mengibar10 9y ago
      Absolutely not. Especially support for PKK diminished recently after they sabotaged peace process. During the talks Kurds in southeast of Turkey has seen what it would be like of truce. Unfortunately PKK saw an opportunity in Syria and upped the bargain and started playing hard again. After they killed 2 police officers (in their homes) state went after them like no before. Evidence, yes. Even Turkish government give serial numbers of captured weapons. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=13928634 http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1392863...
      - riku_iki 9y ago
        Captured weapons is not evidence of direct supply. ISIS uses all kinds of american and russian weapons, but it doesn't mean it is supported by those countries.
        mengibar10 9y ago
        PKK and YPG are two names for one organization operating in bordering countries. Captured PKK terrorists tell that they were fighting for YPG. You should seek and read these stories for yourself. But if you only read media holding exclusive rights for credibility of course it's difficult to find such stories. Especially when you know a Western language only it's difficult for you to get a balanced information.
  - 9y ago

forapurpose 9y ago

The PKK is a far more complex issue. Their mission is self-determination for Kurdish people. After WWI, the Allied powers split the region where the Kurds reside, their hoped-for Kurdistan, between Turkey, Iraq, and Syria. They have faced oppression and worse (e.g., Iraq murdered Kurdish civilians with chemical weapons in the 1980s) from these governments for generations. In Iraq: In the contest with Saddam Hussein, at least beginning in the 1990s, the U.S. built a strong relationship with the Kurds there. The Kurds used U.S. support to create de facto autonomy from the Iraqi government (something they are voting on in a couple of weeks - potentially a major event in Kurdish history). They became a skilled combat force and strong allies of the U.S., fighting alongside the Americans through the Iraq War and now in the fight against ISIL. In Syria: My impression is that the relationship between the U.S. and the Iraqi Kurds extends now, with the Syrian civil war, to the Kurds in Syria. Like those in Iraq, the Syrian Kurds also have used their government's weakness to establish some autonomy. In Turkey: There is no government weakness and no autonomy, but an ongoing contest with crackdowns, terrorist attacks, and more. The Turkish government calls the PKK 'terrorists', but the government's hands are hardly clean. The Turkish government does not want autonomous Kurdish regions in Syria and Iraq, both of which would border the Kurdish region in Turkey and would encourage and support Turkish Kurds. Are the PKK terrorists? Freedom fighters? Some of each? I can't tell you. But certainly they have some argument for seeking self-determination in the face of oppression, and unlike groups such as ISIL their goal is self-determination for their own people, not to bring down governments and to take land and liberty from others.

mengibar10 9y ago
In that case, can we then draw the conclusion that US is giving PKK all these weapons for a purpose beyond fighting ISIS?
- riku_iki 9y ago
  Are all kurds members of PKK? Is there any evidence that US is giving these weapons specifically to PKK?
  - mengibar10 9y ago
    Absolutely not. Especially support for PKK diminished recently after they sabotaged peace process. During the talks Kurds in southeast of Turkey has seen what it would be like of truce. Unfortunately PKK saw an opportunity in Syria and upped the bargain and started playing hard again. After they killed 2 police officers (in their homes) state went after them like no before. Evidence, yes. Even Turkish government give serial numbers of captured weapons. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=13928634 http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1392863...
    - riku_iki 9y ago
      Captured weapons is not evidence of direct supply. ISIS uses all kinds of american and russian weapons, but it doesn't mean it is supported by those countries.
      - mengibar10 9y ago
        PKK and YPG are two names for one organization operating in bordering countries. Captured PKK terrorists tell that they were fighting for YPG. You should seek and read these stories for yourself. But if you only read media holding exclusive rights for credibility of course it's difficult to find such stories. Especially when you know a Western language only it's difficult for you to get a balanced information.
- 9y ago