The White House is suffering from tunnel vision on Ukraine (only made worse by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's visit to Washington, DC) and has forgotten another crucial theater of war and threat to U.S. interests: Syria.
Turkey's president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has recently announced that he wants to work with both Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Russian President Vladimir Putin, to bring an end to Syria's civil war. This comes in light of the commander of the Syrian Kurds calling on President Biden to prevent a possible Turkish invasion that could devastate Syria further.
The United States should broker a deal between Turkey and the Kurds to address Erdogan's security concerns and work together to build a stronger Northern Syria that could counter the threat of Assad and foster the ideal environment for Syrian refugees to return until a permanent political solution is achieved.
That might be difficult, however. Turkey's blaming of the Kurds for a Nov. 13 bomb attack in Istanbul that killed eight people and the Turkish Election next year have focused Erdogan on revisiting ties with Assad to counter Kurdish ambitions of creating an autonomous state on Turkey's border.
It would be a major mistake for Erdogan to align himself with Syria's dictator. Assad has been responsible for a tumultuous civil war that has raged on since 2011, the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of civilians, and the creating of a global refugee crisis involving millions.
Turks and armed Kurdish movements have been clashing since 1978, resulting in 40,000 deaths. It will take either the genocide of an entire ethnic population or peace to resolve their disputes.
The U.S. has a track-record of abandoning its allies in global conflicts, whether it be the South Vietnamese government during its war in Vietnam or the Afghan militias who assisted them in their war against the Taliban.
This time must be different. The Kurds have fought alongside the U.S. for decades, from the wars against Saddam Hussein in Iraq to the fight against Islamic State. Instead of abandoning its Kurdish friends, the U.S. should support them by brokering a peaceful solution with Turkey on their behalf. If the U.S. doesn't do so, America will struggle to form future alliances with anyone.
It's time that the U.S. honors the support the Kurds have provided them and seizes this opportunity to strengthen their own alliance with Turkey. It's time Erdogan works with the U.S. to rebuild northern Syria, creating a safe place for the refugees to return to without the help of Assad and his handlers who have committed war crimes and helped cause the crisis in the first place. Assad has already destroyed his country and displaced millions of refugees to Turkey. He doesn't care for anyone or anything except for his own survival and illegitimate power.
Supporters of Assad believe that a coalition between Assad, Russia, and Iran would bring true peace to the region by ridding it of the threat of rebel groups, including the Kurdish militias. But what they fail to realize is that the leaders in Tehran and Moscow have their own selfish ambitions, and are only using the Syrian dictator until he is no longer useful.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's leader, is hell-bent on fulfilling his vision of establishing an arc of influence linking all Shia enclaves in the middle east to destroy his country's foes, including Israel and the Sunni Muslim states. His influence over Syria is key in making these aims a reality.
Russia, on the other hand, wants to protect its special interests within the region, including their air and naval bases. Basically, using the region as a theater to test out their military equipment, as well as gain a foothold as part of its global game of chess with the U.S.
In truth, making a deal with a war-criminal like Assad, who faces a list of severe American sanctions that also apply to those who finance him (Caesar Act of 2019), would destroy Turkey's international reputation and relationship with the U.S., not to mention, NATO. A deal with Assad would also yield no benefit either against the Kurds, as the power projection he once held no longer exists. Erdogan aligning himself with the Syrian dictator, is by proxy doing so with America's enemies, Russia and Iran.
Erdogan should instead work with the U.S. to broker a deal with the Kurds affirming their safety and security in northern Syria.
Dr. Tarek Kteleh, MD. is the CEO at Rheumatology of Central Indiana. He is also the author of The Six Pillars of Advocacy: Embrace Your Cause and Transform Lives.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
