Kurds

After becoming direct victims of ISIS violence in 2014, no significant Christian groups in northern Iraq chose neutrality, and most fought in Christian militias rather than integrating into larger Iraqi or Kurdish forces.

Turkey’s current invasion of Afrin, Syria, is similar to its invasion of northern Cyprus in 1974.

So far, the United States has failed to articulate any clear strategy in Syria. It is not even clear who our allies are anymore.

Iraqi Christians in the Nineveh Plains require assistance, which can only be achieved by a coalition of states seeking the indigenous population’s best interest. President Trump and numerous European governments have made assisting displaced and persecuted Christians a top priority. These leaders have followed words with actions, but more must be done.

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.