Witold Repetowicz, a research fellow at Casimir Pulaski Foundation, stressed in an interview with Kurdpress that Kurds in Syria are better to get united with the central government in Damascus against Turkey.

What follows is his full answers to Kurdpress questions;

How do you describe the Kurdish Question in the Middle East and especially in Turkey?

Situation of Kurds is different in Iraq, Iran, Syria and Turkey and without any doubt the worst is in Turkey. Iraq for example, where in the past Kurds faced genocide, now in fact is no more an Arabic country but an Arab-Kurdish one. According to the constitution Kurdish is an official language equal to Arabic in all Iraq, not only in Kurdish Region. And Kurds enjoy proper representation in state institutions. I think this is a model solution for the Kurdish Question. And this is not a model of autonomy, as Kurdistan Region is not an autonomous region but a federal one. This is a concept of different idea of state, not one-nation-state, but dual/multi-nation-state, where Kurds are recognized as a nation, not as minority but as co-host of the state.

Of course many Kurds dream about their independent state and I often saw, especially in Kurdish Region in Iraq, maps of the so called Great Kurdistan. But this is just a dream and the reality is that no Kurdish party has any such political project. PDK wanted to proclaim independence but only for Iraqi part of Kurdistan, without any plans to unify with other parts. This project, I mean independence referendum in 2017, failed and it is doubtful if it could bring any benefit to Kurdish nation as a whole. Kurdish Region as an independent state would face many problems and probably would have to depend on one of its neighbors, probably Turkey. It would not have been any progress for Kurds but quite opposite. And it could worsen the situation of Kurds in other parts of Kurdistan, especially in Turkey.

Turkey tends to label any struggle for Kurdish rights as “separatism” and “terrorism”. This country was built on an idea of non-existence of Kurds, Kurdistan and Kurdish language. In the Ataturk concept there was place only for one nation, one language and one culture: Turkish. AKP government introduced some reforms but stopped short of adopting a comprehensive solution. It was already prepared, I mean Dolmabahce Agreement. But Erdogan rejected it. He never wanted a solution, he just needed Kurdish voices in elections. When he saw that these reforms serve not to him but to HDP and Demirtas, he changed this policy of relaxing Kurdish oppression. And the biggest enemy for him was not guerilla but those who promoted peaceful sاsolution. This is why he decided to get rid of them. After June elections in 2015 he imprisoned mayors of Kurdish towns and it was not just a persecution, it was aimed to leave Kurdish hot-headed youth alone, without more reasonable leaders. The aim was to make this Kurdish youth take up the guns and start a senseless uprising. This was an excuse for Erdogan to launch a campaign of terror. Turkish army committed a lot of crimes against humanity during this fight in late 2015 and early 2016.

The problem in Turkey is not only the policy of state towards Kurds but also, or maybe especially, the attitude of ethnic Turks towards their Kurdish co-citizens. They are deeply nationalistic in a very bad meaning of this word. It is like in Nazi Germany. They hate Kurds, they get enraged when they hear the K-word. They refer to Kurdistan Region in Iraq only as Northern Iraq. And Erdogan needs these nationalistic votes in elections so he court them with his anti-Kurdish moves. On other hand he wants to expand Turkish sphere of influence on Kurdish territory outside Turkey, especially in Syria and Iraq. This is why he uses the same trick as Ataturk who referred to “Turks and Kurds” during Turkish Independence War and when he wanted to take control over Mosul, but later Kurds “evaporated” from his concept of Turkish state. The same is with present, neo-Othomanic policy of Erdogan.

It seems that Erdogan is not going to involve in another peace process, what the situation will be? Can he solve the Kurdish problem militarily?

It is impossible to solve the Kurdish problem militarily. This will cause only another shed of blood. This war lasts already 35 years and Turkey cannot win it because young generations of Kurds grow up in misery and with clear sense of revenge. The policy of so called “assimilation” through forced relocation of Kurds to ethnic Turkish areas also failed. And fortunately Turks cannot repeat the scenario of 1915 Armenian genocide and just exterminate all Kurds. Unfortunately, Turkey does not want to realize that and another peace process indeed seems implausible. So there will be more blood, more misery, more terror and victims and more thirst of revenge. Turkey cannot win this war but can lose it if a third party decide to give military support to PKK.

Why Europe and U.S do not support Kurdish problem is it because of PKK’s role or economic ties they have with Ankara?

It depends on what do you mean as “support Kurdish problem” and what part of Kurdistan you are talking about. Both US and Europe have good relations with Kurdish Region in Iraq and provided military support to Peshmerga during the war against Daesh. They didn't endorse the independence referendum as no one did that. In Syria USA helped YPG to defend Kobane against Daesh and then provided a lot of military support to Kurds, especially in last 2 years.

PKK has no effective role outside Turkey, especially in Syria, where YPG cut its ties with PKK. USA and Europe know very well that all those claims that territory controlled by SDF is used by PKK to attack Turkey is completely false. And PKK is on EU terror list because it was due to the logic of the Cold War and Turkish membership to NATO. Irish Republican Army was also considered a terror group and later some of its members became members of Northern Ireland parliament and government. Moreover, PKK is not a threat to Europe, unlike some jihadi groups that are directly or indirectly supported by Turkey. So the reason of such attitude towards PKK is not the role of this organization but Turkish membership in NATO.

For USA Turkish membership in NATO is the only reason of its policy regarding Kurdish question in Turkey. But for Europe it is not. In 2015 and 2016 Europe ignored Turkish terror campaign against Kurds because it was afraid that Erdogan will resume its attack on Europe with the migrants influx. It is clear that Turkey's intelligence, MIT, stimulated the flow of migrants in 2015. Europe could easily resist this hostile Turkish policy by imposing sanctions on this country as Russia did after downing SU-24 or USA did to make Turkey release pastor Brunson. Turkish economy is so fragile that they wouldn't withstand that for long. But this is against the interest of big corporations, like German banks that gave Turkey big loans. So this is why Europe turn a blind eye on what Turkey is doing with Kurds in Turkey.

How west, especially U.S and Russia look at Kurdish question in general and in Turkey and Iraq in particular? I mean, is Kurdish question a serious matter for them and do they want to solve it or Kurds are, as some believe, just a tool for them to achieve their interests?

For Russia Kurds always were only a tool of pressure. This is not a new policy. Already in XIX century Russian Empire explored the possibility to use some Kurdish groups to weaken Ottoman Empire but was never serious to support any Kurdish uprising. In 1946 Soviets supported and then abandoned the Mahabad Republic as they only wanted to exert pressure on shah. The same was in Afrin. Russians let Turks shell Kurds when they got from Erdogan what they wanted. And it will be always like that, however Russians will not let Turkey destroy Kurds completely because otherwise they will lose this card. And in Iraq Russians know that the status quo will not change so they accommodated to it and now, through Rosnieft, they become more influential in Erbil then USA.

In the West people have a lot of sympathy to Kurds but they lack knowledge. And Russia has long tradition of research on Kurdish topics. USA has no such knowledge so their Kurdish policy is more chaotic. But it was thanks to USA that Kurdish Region emerged in Iraq and now they want to preserve the status quo. That's good. But I doubt if they have any idea of comprehensive solution for Kurdish Question, especially in Turkey and they will not care about the situation of Kurds in Turkey as long as Turkey is a NATO member. Regardless what Turkey would do.

In Syria situation is very complex and only time will tell how USA react if Turkey attacks Kurds. It would be very bad for USA image if Kurds are slaughtered there by Turks and many US politicians know that. But what matters more is that USA fears Syrian Kurds may strike a deal with Iran and Hezbollah. It would be a disaster for American interests in Middle East. For now Kurds are not eager to do that and they prefer to talk to Russians but the situation may change.

What Erdogan wants from Syria? Some say that Turkey wants to annex Syrian territories like Afrin and Al bab, and other places, is it possible?

If Syrian forces, I mean SDF and Assad, will not unite against Turkish occupation of those territories they will be lost for Syria and for Kurds. In Afrin Turkey is doing mass-scale ethnic cleansing, in all occupied areas is introducing Turkish curriculum to the schools and is gradually unifying it administratively with Gaziantep province. It will end up like it was with sanjak of Iskanderun or at least like Northern Cyprus. This scenario may happen only with tacit Russian approval but Russia can let Turkey do that for the same reason it lets Israel to attack Iranians in Syria. Russia wants balance of power. On other hand the West, including Europe and USA, will do nothing to stop this scenario. Again, at least as long as Turkey is member of NATO.

Reporter’s code: 50101