The complex history of Turkey and the Kurds, explained | The Fact Checker

To assuage the outrage that followed President Trump’s decision to withdraw U.S. forces from northern Syria, which exposed the Kurds — U.S. allies — to Turkish attack, he has made a slew of claims about the relationship between the Turks and the Kurds. Namely, that they have been fighting for hundreds of years.

The reality of Kurdish activity, and both Kurdish and Turkish identity, in the region is much more complex. Their history is a complex saga of peace, suppression, resistance, cooperation and violence. Most of that violence is a result of relatively recent political tensions, and at times, it has been on behalf of the United States.The Turks and Kurds have not been fighting for hundreds of years, as Trump has claimed. But they do have a complicated history. To understand how the Turkey-Syria border became a conflict zone, we need to go back to the partition of the Middle East at the end of World War 1. The Fact Checker examines the complex history of Turkey, Syria, and the Kurds. Read more: https://wapo.st/2NJng46. Subscribe to The Washington Post on YouTube: https://wapo.st/2QOdcqK

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