Erdogen of Turkey, The Former Ottoman Empire-Ruler of Middle East

 Nadene Goldfoot                                                    

FILE - From left: Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin shake hands during their meeting in Ankara, Turkey, Monday, Sept. 16, 2019, about 5 years ago.  Have things changed?   (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin, Pool, File)

Recently Ankara, Turkey, its capital,  sought a reconciliation with Assad of Syria in order to mitigate the threat to Turkey from Kurdish militias living in Syria and ensure the safe return of refugees. Assad rebuffed Turkey’s overtures.  Now he's out of the picture and the rebels have taken over.  

There are around 2.5 million Kurds in Syria. They speak Kurdish (the Kirimanji dialect), but most speak Arabic, too, and many Kurds have at least partially assimilated into Arab society. Most are Sunni Muslims.  They live near Aleppo and Damascus.  

A recent report tells of Turkey not being needed anymore  but are still there, more interested in possibly getting rid of the Kurds living in Syria.  One must realize that Turkey is also not friendly with Israel.  

After the advent of Islam in the 7th century CE, Kurdish tribes in Upper Mesopotamia and western Iran resisted advancing Muslim armies, but ultimately most Kurds converted to the Shafi'ite school of Sunni Islam. Kurdish cultural and political power re-emerged over the next three centuries, as Kurds in Kurdistan lived semi-autonomously within the Islamic caliphates.

Syrian Kurdistan  Also known as Rojava, this region in northern Syria is where Kurds are the majority. It includes three enclaves along the Turkish and Iraqi borders: Afrin, Kobani, and Jazira.

Syrian Kurdistan or Rojava (Kurdish: Rojavayê Kurdistanê, lit. 'Kurdistan where the sun sets') is a region in northern Syria where Kurds form the majority. It is surrounding three noncontiguous enclaves along the Turkish and Iraqi borders: Afrin in the northwest, Kobani in the north, and Jazira in the northeast.

Turkey, which shares a 911-kilometer- (566-mile-) long frontier with Syria, has been a main backer of opposition groups aiming to topple Assad since the outbreak of the civil war in 2011.  

In Hatay province, which also lies on the Syrian frontier, many said it was time to go home after years of living in Turkey, which hosts some 3 million Syrians.  While Turkish officials have strongly rejected claims of any involvement, observers believe that the offensive, which appears to be aligned with Turkey’s long-time goals, could not have gone ahead without Ankara’s consent.  It has allowed Turkey, through its Syrian proxy, the Syrian National Army, to push back against Kurdish forces in Syria allied to its sworn enemy, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK.

The jihadi group that spearheaded the 10-day march on Damascus, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, is listed as a terrorist organization by Ankara. However, Turkey has operated alongside it for years in northern Syria and is believed to exert significant influence over the group.

Resource:

https://jewishbubba.blogspot.com/2024/11/erdogan-claims-cutting-ties-of.html

https://minorityrights.org/communities/kurds-5/#:~:text=There%20are%20around%202.5%20million,Most%20are%20Sunni%20Muslims.

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