| ID | 163311 |
| Title Proper | Kurdish awakening |
| Other Title Information | unity, betrayal, and the future of the Middle East |
| Language | ENG |
| Author | Barkey, Henri J |
| Summary / Abstract (Note) |
We’ve been fighting for a long time in Syria,” said U.S. President Donald Trump in the last days of 2018. “Now it’s time for our troops to come back home.” The president’s surprise call for a rapid withdrawal of the nearly 2,000 U.S. troops stationed in Syria drew widespread criticism from members of the U.S. foreign policy establishment. But it came as an even greater shock to the United States’ main partner in the fight against the Islamic State (or ISIS), the Syrian Kurds. For weeks prior to the announcement, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had been threatening to invade areas of northern Syria controlled by Kurdish militants. The only thing stopping him was the presence of U.S. troops. Removing them would leave the Kurds deeply exposed. “If [the Americans] will leave,” warned one Syrian Kurd, “we will curse them as traitors.” |
| `In' analytical Note | Foreign Affairs Vol. 98, 2, Mar-Apr-2019; p107-122 |
| Journal Source | Foreign Affairs Vol: 98 No 2 |
| Key Words | Middle East ; Syria ; Kurdish ; Kurdish Nationalism ; Syrian Kurds ; Islamic State (ISIS) ; Syrian Kurdistan |