Remarks by
DAVID L. PHILLIPS
Truth is in short supply these days. Repeating a lie often and loud enough does not make it true.
Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan justified Turkey’s invasion of northern Syria on national security grounds. Its unprovoked attack had little to do with national security. Syrian Kurds have never launched a cross-border attack on Turkey.
David L. Phillips interviewed for "On Assignment with Richard Engel" to discuss America's betrayal of the Kurds.
Watch the episode, "American Betrayal", here.
Just before U.S. President Donald Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met at the White House on Wednesday, Ahval editor David Lepeska spoke with Columbia University’s David L. Phillips, a former senior adviser at the U.S. State Department, about the Turkish leader’s war crimes, Trump’s lack of character, and how the U.S. should begin to push for Erdogan’s ouster.
By David L. Phillips
A Kurdish woman fled Turkish troops and their Islamist mercenaries when Turkey launched an unprovoked attack on the City of Afrin, a Kurdish community in northern Syria, on Jan. 20, 2018. The woman was running hand-in-hand with her young daughter when a missile obliterated the girl. The mother held onto her arm — all that was left of her child.
The withdrawal of US troops from northern Syria has had grave repercussions for the security and stability of the entire region. The Turkish military has invaded northern Syria, killing dozens of Kurdish civilians and forcing over 200,000 Kurds to flee. In the absence of US troops, Russian and Syrian troops have rushed in to fill the power vacuum. Meanwhile, hundreds of ISIS fighters have escaped detention.
