Turkiye and the Kurds: is Erdogan strapping himself into the ‘genocide chair’?

Muhammad Amin

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan may be strapping himself into the genocide chair last vacated by Saddam Hussein, warning Kurdish militia opposing his avatar jihadis Thursday to surrender or “be buried”.
He warning came as violent clashes continued between Kurds fighting under the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) brand and his avatars from disparate and discontinued jihadi corporations like ISIS, Al-Qaeda and the Nusra Front, fighting under the Syrian National Army logo.
The Kurds want an independent homeland in a territory divided by border lines separating southern Turkey, north eastern Syria and north west Iraq.
The SNA is supported by air cover from Turkey’s air force.
“Kurdish militants in Syria must either lay down their weapons or be buried in Syrian territory with their weapons,” Erdogan said flatly Thursday.
“We will confront all terrorist organizations that are trying to exploit the circumstances in Syria,” he added.
Seeking to exterminate fighters embedded amongst the civilian population that see them as freedom warriors. Hmmmm, where have we encountered this scenario before?
Analysts are warning Erdogan may find himself in the months and years ahead facing the same kind of genocide accusations piling up currently against Israeli Fuhrer Benjamin Netanyahu.
The Turkish Defense Ministry announced that military operations on Wednesday killed 21 Kurdish militants – 20 in Syria and one in Iraq.
“Our operations will continue effectively and resolutely,” the Defense Ministry said.
SDF is predominantly made up of People’s Protection Units (YPG) forces, funded by Washington and Nato. The YPG is the Syrian branch of the banned Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), Ankara’s sworn Kurdish foe that has waged an insurgency against Turkiye since the 1980s.
It helps Washington oversee its occupation of the country’s oilfields. Ankara has demanded an end to all foreign support to Kurdish militants.
SNA factions announced an operation against the SDF in Kobani (Ain al-Arab) on 17 December. The announcement was made in the midst of a buildup of Turkish troops on the Syrian border, ahead of a potential invasion.
The SNA was a main force in the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS)-led assault that ended with the total collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s government on 8 December, when extremists stormed the capital, Damascus.
A transitional authority has been appointed by HTS, which has vowed to protect minorities who have faced years of oppression. Despite these promises, Kurds, Christians, and Alawites are again facing attacks and persecution.
The HTS-led government has taken a firm stance against these actions, which they refer to as individual mistakes.
Erdogan says Ankara has begun contacts with Syria’s new leadership to discuss drafting a new constitution.
“Syria, exhausted after years of war, cannot rise alone and needs the support of the Islamic world. We will stand with all our strength by the Syrian people to build their state,” Erdogan added in his speech Wednesday.