Crunch time for Turkish peace talk

Submitted by Michael S. (United States), Sep 28, 2014 at 11:42

Daniel Pipes replies:

Yes, the Kurds had a disproportionate role in the massacre of Armenians nearly a century ago. That should neither ever be forgotten nor made a factor in today's political choices.

I agree.

Turkey has been blabbing for years now, about wanting to make peace with the Kurds. Crunch time has arrived, when they will make a fateful choice. They can either

(1) Arm the Syrian Kurds who are making a desperate last stand in Kobane against ISIS, literally, right under the noses of the indifferent Turks, or

(2) Forever bury the Kurdish peace process, and ultimately invade Syrian Kurdistan.

I dare say the Turks will choose the latter, because I mistrust them completely; but I hold open the possibility of "(1)" in my heart. If and when the Turks lay down their hand (They have until October 1 to do so), the Kurds will probably turn to Iran for help.

In the long term, I expect the Turks and Iranians, between them, to occupy Syria and Iraq. If Israel is on the ball, they will occupy and hold southern Syria and Lebanon around the same time. I expect Hizbullah to accommodate them, by attacking Israel. That won't be for a while. In the meantime, the Turks can choose whether or not they want the Kurds as friends. My money is on "No".

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".