Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK)

The Autonomous Administration for North and East Syria (AANES) is seeking international recognition as a legitimate government, but currently it is campaigning the US to lift sanctions on its territory.

It is time for the US Commission on International Religious Freedom and the global religious freedom advocacy community to highlight the egregious religious freedom violations that result from Turkey’s restrictions on using the Kurdish language as part of religious services.

Despite tensions between Ankara and Washington, saving Turkey as an ally is worth it.

Although Turkish human rights abuses may seem like a secondary concern for the US in light of Turkish threats against US partners in Syria and Turkey’s deepening relationship with Russia and Iran, these issues cannot be separated.

In October of last year, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), backed by the United States, liberated the city of Raqqa from the Islamic State, who had proclaimed it to be the capital of its caliphate. Four months later, NATO member Turkey has opened a military campaign in the Syrian region Afrin against the same Kurds who led the fight against ISIS.

The Kurdish independence movement gives the United States a unique opportunity to support a government as it transitions towards democracy and becomes a viable Middle Eastern partner within a region of chaos.

In the effort to fight ISIS in Syria, the U.S. government has recently approved supplying arms to Kurdish YPG fighters. But a key NATO ally, Turkey, has condemned the action, claiming the U.S. is empowering the PKK, a Kurdish terrorist group. Here is what you should know about the Kurdish fighters involved.