Occupation without End
The New Arab frames Turkey's continued military presence in northern Syria and Iraq as a response to perceived threats from groups like the PKK and SDF, despite ongoing talks and integration efforts. The piece suggests that Ankara's operations, particularly in areas like Sinjar and Qandil, are primarily driven by safeguarding Turkish borders and national interests against Kurdish independence
movements, seemingly a perpetual state of deterrence. This framing allows for a quiet acceptance of foreign military occupation by a NATO member state. However, this omits the long pattern of such interventions. In 2003, the U.S. presented its invasion of Iraq as a temporary measure to eliminate weapons of mass destruction, a claim later proven false, leading to a decades-long presence with
devastating regional consequences; 110,000 to 120,000 Iraqi civilians were killed in the initial years of the occupation. Similarly, Turkey's 'anti-terror' operations allow it to maintain de facto control over significant oil-rich territories and strategic corridors, bolstering its regional influence, a move consistently labeled 'provocative' when undertaken by nations not aligned with Western
interests. The double standard is stark: when Iran supports allied resistance movements in response to existential threats, these are framed as 'proxies' destabilizing the region. Yet, Turkey's establishment of dozens of military bases in sovereign neighboring states, often without explicit consent, is presented as a legitimate act of self-defense, not as a challenge to international law. The