What is happening right now?
In early October 2019, there were roughly 1,000 military troops and special forces positioned in the Northern part of Syria. On October 13, the U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark T. Esper said that President Trump ordered the withdrawal of American forces in Northern Syria. On that Sunday morning, American military forces pulled out of Ain Issa ( a Syrian town north of the Islamic State’s former self-declared capital of Raqqa). This occurred after an advance of the Free Syrian Army, a rebel group backed by Turkey, according to military officials. The implications were made clear that “American forces will not be coming to the aid of their Kurdish allies in the face of the Turkish-backed defense.” Although the Kurdish forces have proved to be America’s partner in the fight against the Islamic State, in 2014, it was stated that America would not be able to deter Turkey from invading Syria. Now there is currently Turkish military operations taking place in Northern Syria. Since launching its offensive, Turkey has urged Western allies to back its plans to build new towns in northeast Syria, where it says up to half of the 3.6 million Syrian refugees it currently holds could be settled. So with American troops withdrawn, Turkey is now in Syria without any supervision.
Just last month, Turkey launched an invasion against the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia and is taking over the southeastern land. A senior Turkish military source told Reuters news agency that because there is Turkish military presence there, if it is damaged or attacked in any way, the military would consider it an attack on Turkey. So the Turkish military would be forced to give necessary retaliation on anyone. Because of an increase of hostility and the fear of escalation, more than 38,500 people have been displaced since September. An estimated 2.9 million people are living in parts of Idlib, Hama and Aleppo.There has been UN warnings regarding the possibility of this conflict and it leading to a humanitarian tragedy. Is it leading to a humanitarian tragedy or are we afraid to say a genocide?
Why should you care?
Turkey’s invasion of Northern Syria has already caused thousands of people to flee their homes. The areas that they are attacking are filled with many minorities that the Turkey has been hostile to for years. Allowing these Turks to enter Syria without supervision is putting these ethnic minorities, like the Armenians, Assyrians, and Kurds, at risk of being apart of another humanitarian disaster such as an ethnic cleansing at the hands of the Turks who have openly acted against them in the past. Turkey has stated that all they want is a 30-mile deep zone in Syria, but a lot can happen while Turkey is in Syria.
To learn more about each of these minorities and their entwined history with Turkey click on of the links below
What can you do?
Please spread the information to friends, family and colleagues. Let’s have Turkey know that we know what they are capable of and we will not tolerate for it to happen again. Having people become aware of the situation is the first step in making a change.
Sign this petition to support out efforts in getting eyes on Turkey. We are trying to get the United Nations and the United States government to assert their authority in the situation and prevent a future humanitarian crisis.
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