Is Trump Protecting Europe From Turkey?, 2799

The Still Report. ^ | Oct 17, 2019 | Bill Still

[Widget Jr]

Summary:
Erdogan's "invasion" of Syria is not what the media is reporting. Turkey has 3.6 million refugees from the Syrian Civil War, and has prevented them from flooding Europe, causing severe economic hardship. This is the largest number of refugees held by any nation. If Erdogan can be believed, and he has been talking about this for a few years, this "invasion" is about creating 20 x 300 mile zone to create a zone to repatriate Syrian refugees. The Kurds are largely unaffected by Turkey's move.

Turkey cannot hold millions of refugees forever. They can send them to Syria or Europe. If they goto Europe, in Still's oppinion the massive influx would collapse European economies.

[Widget Jr]

Posted to give another side of the issue, one not spelled out in the MSM. Erdogan's actions may be entirely justified here. Comments/Discussion?

[wildcard_redneck]

I think the Still Report is on to something. The 3.6 million refugees had to be a factor in the decision making.

[Agatsu77]

Wrong! That 20x300 mile region is where the Kurds live.

[Boomer]

Yeah but is weaponizing refugees a good idea? We’ve seen Obama and dems in general weaponize refugees to storm our southern border with the thought they will help turn the USA left because the refugees are apparently dumb as rocks and only know how to breed and cost American taxpayers hundreds of billions every year.

[Agatsu77]

and the northern parts of Iran and Iraq.

[Agatsu77]

The Turks and the Kurds have been at war since before there were Turks.

[Agatsu77]

Does no-one read any history anymore?

[LesbianThespianGymnasticMidget]

Wrong! That 20x300 mile region is where the Kurds live.

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Some Kurds do live there but not many. The population centers are way south of that. Really sucks for you trolls what Trump has pulled off doesn’t it? God, I would be livid were I one of you trolls. You could just see it. A quagmire to drag him down and poof. Magic. Problem solved.

[genghis]

No reason anybody should protect their borders

[silverleaf]

Its where they shoot at Turkish villages from

There’s a lot more territory they can move to just 20 miles from the border

[DoodleDawg]

The Kurds are largely unaffected by Turkey's move.

Except that the 20x300 mile zone has Kurds all over it.

[House Atreides]

“Some Kurds do live there but not many. The population centers are way south of that. Really sucks for you trolls what Trump has pulled off doesn’t it? God, I would be livid were I one of you trolls”
*****************************************************
I checked the posting history of the FReeper you dismissed as a troll. He’s anything but a troll and he supports Trump. By the way, check out demographic maps of Syria...the Kurds do live up north near the border with Turkey. The area in the southern part of Syria is largely desert and certainly not populated by Kurds.

OK, carry on with your anti-Kurd jihad.

[TADSLOS]

Does no-one read any history anymore?

Are you kidding? This is Free Republic. We don’t even read the articles.

[Widget Jr]

The occupation zone Erdogan wants:

Source: proposed-turkish-zone-syria-2015-map

Kurdish population map:

Source: Distribution of Kurdish Population

Syrian Kurds live along the zone Erdogan wants to occupy, that's true. Kurds also live through out Turkey, Iraq, Iran and Sryia.

The Kurds are not a monolithic political entity group. The PKK has a heavy presence in northern Syria and is considered a terrorist group by Turkey, the U.S, and the EU. President Trump has called the PKK worse than ISIL.

We already know Erdogan has his own agendas and ambitions. He also responsibilities as the President of Turkey. Preventing attacks on Turkish territory and repatriating refugees are legitimate issues.

From Turkey's perspective, in the present case, in order to repatriate millions of refugees and protect their own borders, creating a buffer zone would be realistic action to take.

[MrEdd]

The refugees can go home.

Refugees who are terrorists can be executed.

[House Atreides]

“Kurdish population map:”
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Actually, the area and map you reference are of an area in northern Syria that the Turks previously occupied, conducted ethnic cleansing of Kurds and Yazidis and replaced them with “Arab fighters” and their families. That successful incursion and ethnic cleansing apparently simply whetted the Turkish appetite for more Kurdish lands to cleanse of Kurds and replace them with Islamist Arabs. These greater Ambitions are what Turkey is after now.

See the below linked article for more information,

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkish_occupation_of_northern_Syria

[Widget Jr]

Appreciate the info. To me, trying to follow Middle East politics is like starting to watch a dozen soap operas at once mid season, while knowing none of them will have a happy ending.

[DoodleDawg]

We already know Erdogan has his own agendas and ambitions.

No doubt. And with the help of the U.S. he will be achieving a big part of both. But expelling the refugees in Turkey into the newly cleared area doesn't solve it, it is just shifting the refugee problem from one geographical location to another. Who takes responsibility for them once they're back in Syria? The Syrian government? Wasn't that what the refugees were fleeing from to begin with?

[Widget Jr]

The refugees were flying the Syrian Civil War, not the Syrian government. The war Obama gave a green light to, walked away from, and nearly allowed ISIL to take over Syria and much of northern Iraq.

[silverleaf]

Map shows why “ Kurdistan” will never happen

Or lets get Romney and Graham to describe how our military can make it happen,