Many comments that the Kurds in Syria were mistaken to accept support from imperialists, are "separatists" or "US proxies", that they should have listened to those warning them about this or that they were useful dupes who only have themselves to blame. THREAD 🧵 
After gaining a degree of autonomy and self-governance in the midst of the Syrian Civil War, the Kurdish forces in NE Syria (Rojava) found themselves at the mercy of ISIS encroaching along the Syrian-Turkish border, with hostile Turkey the other side providing sustenance to ISIS
The YPG and its political manifestation the PYD ended up in various alliances with various forces. It had a deal with the Syrian regime to defend the territorial integrity of Rojava sine SAA forces fled in 2012, in exchange for political and military autonomy. This allowed PYD
to establish major social, democratic and economic reforms based on gender equality and co-operatives rather than colonisation, exploitation and wage slavery. In 2014 a number of countries joined the anti-ISIS coalition following the request of intervention from the Iraqi govt
including the USA, UK, Jordan, UAE etc. first in Sinjar in response to the Yazidi genocide and then in Kobane, the latter without permission from the Syrian govt. The US govt was simultaneously arming Syrian "rebels" in efforts of regime change. The anti-ISIS coalition continued
providing airstrikes for the YPG then SDF as they liberated NE Syria from Kobane to Raqqa & Deir Ezzor. In the northwest canton of Afrin, untouched by war & YPG/PYD-run since govt withdrew in 2012, a YPG deal with Russia provided military protection to prevent a Turkish invasion.
The YPG-Russia deal ended in January 2018 when Russian military withdrew to allow Turkey's FSA-backed invasion of Afrin, most likely because of geopolitical games between Putin and Erdoğan connected to the #Gazprom #Turkstream project. Read more here: twitter.com/i/moments/9767…
So the Kurdish forces essentially made deals with Russia, Syria & the US-led Coalition to try to secure a degree of protection. Such deals were always *temporary military alliances* pending a political settlement. Hence why Turkey was so keen on excluding PYD from UN Geneva talks
Despite the inclusion at UN Geneva talks of "moderate" rebel groups like Jaish-al-Islam (who used chemical weapons against Kurds in the Aleppo district of Sheikh Maqsoud in 2016), the Kurdish PYD were excluded by the US/UK & Turkey, even though Russia demanded their inclusion.
The military alliance with the US-led Coalition was never a political alliance. I'm sure if they had made promises about attempting regime change, the Americans would have provided serious military equipment, but the deal was only ever about defeating ISIS. The SDF lost 11,000
fighters in the war against ISIS - this would have been far higher without Coalition aerial cover. Does it mean the Kurds are imperialist pawns? They're more like the Italian partisans coordinating with US & British soliders to repel Nazi occupation. The Kurds' political autonomy
has only ever been a matter between the Syrian state and the NE Syrian administration. The PYD has never sought secession, only political autonomy within a new Syrian republic.
The real question is: how do a stateless people navigate a world of imperialism & powerful states?
The real question is: how do a stateless people navigate a world of imperialism & powerful states?
In 2014 the game was survival. ISIS were about to take Kobane. Thousands of "infidel" Kurds had been massacred in the most brutal way. Yazidis suffered a genocide. As @davidgraeber said, it's a miracle that Rojava has lasted this long, mainly through a diplomatic balancing act
In 1945 Ho Chi Minh accepted American weapons and training to help in the fight against French colonisers. Would you really call Uncle Ho an imperialist pawn? By the way, here's a Kurdish song about Ho Chi Minh
Should the Kurds have trusted the Americans? Well, they always knew the alliance was temporary, given that the USA is a NATO ally of Turkey. Should they have accepted 5 years of aerial cover to stop being massacred by jihadi headchoppers? Is it really for you to tell them not to?
Finally, no, Rojava is not some kind of new Israel. The Kurdish movement has a 40 year long connection with the Palestinian liberation struggle. Despite Hamas' support for Turkey, 13 different Palestinian orgs have expressed their solidarity with Rojava against Turkish aggression
PS: those who argue that the Kurds should have remained pure by struggling for survival & revolution alone are a bit like those arguing that anti-capitalists are hypocrites for using iPhones. As a stateless people how do they navigate a world saturated by imperialist greed?
