Diogenesister: It's crazy that Turkey is fighting the Kurds. Turkey has to face reality, the Kurds need their own homeland, any fool can see that. They have been victims of persecution for decades and more. Once they have their Kurdistan home they will be an allay of the west & a further bulwark against isis.
I agree, but please don't forget the history at the back of the story. The seeds of the Kurd's difficulties were sown in the botched peace treaty concocted by the victors (primarily the British and French) in WW1. They rewarded themselves, by taking the freedom of others (who were essentially innocent in the war). The Brits took Iraq, a fabricated artificial state, comprising three different etho-religious groups, probably because, they could play each group against the other making it easier to rule, and used terror to maintain their hold. Why? Because they had converted the British navy to oil as a fuel, and their new territory had lots of that. The French gave themselves Syria, so if you want to know more look at how they ruled the country and its subsequent history.
As, a sidenote, the failed Versailles Treaty, probably did as much as anything to bring about the Communist victory in the Chinese Civil war, and the proclamation of the People's Republic of China in October 1949.
The Versailles agreement gave a chunk of China to Japan, setting off great unrest in China and the so-called May 4 movement. Within a few years the Communist Party of China was formed and the influential Chinese leader in the south, Sun Yatsen was asking the Comintern to help him in China. That was at least the second time, that Sun Yatsen felt betrayed by the West. The first time, was when the Phillipines were fighting for freedom against the Spanish and a stupid gungho, President MacKinley decided he'd invade the Phillipines.
