Iraqi Kurdish peshmerga have now transited Turkey and are on their way into Kobane, the Syrian Kurdish canton currently under siege by the Islamic State (ISIS). The New York Times, for example, reported “Syrian Kurdish leaders from Kobani said the small numbers of fighters so far were not enough to turn the tide,” but gave Turkey benefit of the doubt, continuing:
The United States for weeks pressed Turkey, a NATO ally, to do more. But Turkey had held out for stronger American action to oust President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, and it has strong reservations about helping Kurdish communities in Syria and Iraq that are aligned with its own restive Kurdish population. The groups fighting for the town of Kobani meet the politics behind Turkey’s recent decision to assist them in pushing back the Islamic State. Analysts said it was significant that Turkey had relented.
Such a spin misunderstands Kurdish dynamics or consciously carries water for President Erdoğan. When Erdoğan looks at Syria, enemy number one is Assad, number two are the Syrian Kurds, and a distant third is ISIS. Over the past few months, Erdoğan hoped that ISIS would do its dirty work against the Syrian Kurds and hand them a defeat. Two things happened, though: the Syrian Kurdish peshmerga (YPG) didn’t surrender and may even have turned the tide of battle, and the US actually decided to break its prohibition on working with the YPG and has supplied them, effectively arming the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) for the first time. Erdoğan played his cards, and the United States—finally—called his bluff. By allowing Iraqi Kurds to cross his border—even if just symbolic—Erdoğan’s goal is less to see a Kurdish victory and more to prevent the United States from again working directly with the PKK.
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