The US Made A Major Strategic Mistake Supporting The YPG

The recent history of the United States underlines how important the fight against communism is for the country. The United States either was directly involved in the fight or supported those who had been fighting in Korea, in Cuba, in Vietnam, and in Afghanistan in an attempt to hinder the expansionist policy of Communism – led by China and the USSR – during the Cold War. Having spent billions of dollars for this cause, the United States even risked the lives of American youth to this end when necessary.

When the current developments in the Middle East are examined, it becomes considerably more difficult to say that the United States sustains its firm policy against Communism; so much so that this change has adversely affected its relations with Turkey – its major ally in the region.

The issue stems from the PYD and its armed wing, the YPG that the United States supports in Syria. As reported in many intelligence reports, be it confidential or otherwise, the YPG is clearly a branch of the PKK terror organization and evidently there is an organic link between the two organizations.  The PYD grounds itself on the Group of Communities in Kurdistan (KCK) agreement, based on the principles of communism and is known to serve as the constitution of the PKK.

The US administration disregards these obvious facts because doing so serves its current interests in Syria and acts upon the assumption that the YPG is an effective force against the ISIS.

The information reflected in the American media itself now reveals that Turkey has not been in the wrong at all. For instance, an interview on the Wall Street Journal website with Zind Ruken, a female member of the PKK, underlines the relation between the PKK and the PYD: “Sometimes I’m a PKK, sometimes I’m a PJAK (Party of Free Life of Kurdistan- a branch of the PKK located in Iran), sometimes I’m a YPG. It doesn’t really matter. They are all members of the PKK.” (1)

The relationship of the PKK within the YPG is not limited to that: Indeed, another link was revealed when the US presidential envoy, Brett McGurk, received a plaque from Polat Can, a YPG Spokesman.  Polat Can is actually a terrorist who has organized terrorist acts for the PKK in Turkey. (2) Following that, photographs of Polat Can with other members of the PKK terrorist organization appeared in the Turkish media.

As a matter of fact, the US Administration is evidently well aware of the fact that the YPG is a terrorist organization with links to the PKK. In this regard, Robert Ford, a former U.S. ambassador to Syria, stated, “As to its (PYD’s) relationship with the PKK, American officials will say ‘PYD is not officially linked to the PKK’. I think it’s just nonsense that they say PYD is not PKK. This is a verbal defense which they are not serious with. It is one of those things that you say that is not true and everyone knows it.” (3)

There is a piece of information which confirms this fact on the website of the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC), which was established in an effort to coordinate the counterterrorism efforts of various state departments of the United States, primarily the CIA, the FBI and the DoD (Department of Defense), following the attacks of September 11, 2001.

It is revealed that the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) designates the PYD organized by the Kurds in northern Syria as the “Syrian Affiliate” of Kongra-Gel, or KGK, otherwise known as the PKK. The access to the website was denied right after the position of the NCTC on this issue had been brought to the agenda in Turkey, which was proven to be a striking development. (4)

One can find further information indicating the links between the PYD and the PKK in the reports of United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs published by the U.S. Government Publishing Office (GPO), which is the Federal Government’s official digital secure resource for producing, procuring, cataloging, indexing, authenticating, disseminating, and preserving the official information data of the U.S. Government.

These reports acknowledge the relationship between the PKK and the PYD terrorist organizations and demonstrate that “…the PKK and the PYD are the same”, which was claimed by a Middle East expert, Andrew J. Tabler, who hold the floor during the first session of 113th congress of the House of Representatives on November 20, 2013.  In his statement in the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives, Tabler stated: “And in Kurdish areas, the Democratic Union Party, the PYD, an organization closely affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers Party otherwise known as the PKK, is now dominant.” (5)

In the light of these developments, it is very obvious that the United States does not acknowledge the relationship between the PKK and the YPG not because of a lack of intelligence, but because of the requirements of its policy in the Middle East.

The declaration of Francis J. Ricciardone, a former U.S. Ambassador to Turkey, was yet another statement in support of this conclusion. Delivering a speech in the 36th Annual Turkish American National Leadership Conference held by the Assembly of Turkish American Associations (ATAA), Ricciardone said, “Americans have to understand the PYD is part of the PKK. There’s no sense in pretending otherwise.” (6)

Although senior officials of the US Administration keep saying, “We do not designate the PYD as a terrorist organization”, the available information proves the exact opposite. It is not very realistic for a country with the world’s foremost intelligence organization  – the CIA – and the most advanced tracking and monitoring systems –whilst having the information and the evidence presented by Turkey – to be unable to realize the fact that the YPG is an affiliate of the PKK. Then, what is the reason behind this attitude of the United States?

As it seems, the United States seeks to utilize the YPG as a means to fight against ISIS. In fact, the YPG, without the air support of the coalition, has   had no military success against ISIS. The YPG’s debacle in the Tel Abyad attack of ISIS is a clear indication of this fact: Furthermore, the YPG has turned the fight against ISIS into an opportunity for invading and plundering the region in Syria. This fact, which has been documented in the reports of a large number of human rights organizations, was reaffirmed in the past few days.

The website of the AGOS Journal, an Armenian paper in Turkey, featured a joint declaration made by the Assyrian and Armenian organizations in Syria. The declaration, undersigned by 16 organizations in Syria, clearly demonstrates that the YPG violates human rights, seizes private property, forces people to join their army, unduly collects taxes (extortion) and intervenes in the curriculum of church schools. (7)

In the light of these facts, the United States must reevaluate those with whom it stands in Syria and acknowledge how disastrous supporting a communist terrorist organization would ultimately prove to be for its long-term foreign policy endeavors.

Refereranslar:

1. http://www.wsj.com/articles/americas-marxist-allies-against-isis-1437747949
2. http://setav.org/en/turkey-us-and-pyd-strategic-ally-or-local-partner/opinion/36819
3. https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/articles/middle-east/24079-for-everyones-sake-support-for-the-pkk-pyd-should-be-abandoned
4. https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/americas/24189-us-blocks-own-online-anti-terror-documents-linking-pyd-to-pkk
5. http://docs.house.gov/meetings/FA/FA18/20131120/101513/HHRG-113-FA18-Transcript-20131120.pdf
6. http://www.amerikaninsesi.com/content/abd-pkk-nin-pyd-nin-parcasi-oldugunu-anlamali/3210052.html
7. http://www.agos.com.tr/tr/yazi/13260/rojavada-hiristiyanlar-pydye-tepkili

Adnan Oktar's piece in Diplomacy Pakistan & News Rescue:

http://www.diplomacypakistan.com/articles/the-us-made-a-major-strategic-mistake-supporting-the-ypg/ 

http://newsrescue.com/the-us-made-a-major-strategic-mistake-supporting-the-ypg/