For the United States to abandon the Kurds would be a betrayal.

Since Bashar al-Assad’s regime fell in early December, clashes have intensified in northern Syria between the U.S.-backed Kurdish fighters and the Turkish proxy force, the Syrian National Army (SNA). Following the regime change in Syria, Turkey has emerged as the most influential regional actor in the country.

By supporting groups like Hayʼat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and the Syrian National Army, Ankara has consolidated its power over Syria. This moment, Ankara believes, presents an opportunity to eliminate the small statelet of Syrian Kurds, often referred to as Rojava, which sits adjacent to its borders.

The Kurdish people, often described as the largest stateless ethnic group in the world, have endured centuries of marginalization and persecution. Scattered across Turkey, Syria, Iraq, and Iran, the Kurds share a cultural, linguistic, and historical bond but remain divided by political borders imposed after World War I.

In Syria, their plight has been particularly stark, marked by decades of oppression and neglect under the Arab nationalist Baath regime. Stripped of citizenship rights in the 1960s, many Syrian Kurds were rendered stateless and denied access to education, property ownership, and other fundamental rights. Comprising roughly 10-15% of Syria’s population, Syrian Kurds have historically faced more suppression and invisibility than their counterparts in Turkey, Iraq, and Iran.

From the outset of the Syrian war, the Democratic Union Party (PYD), the primary Kurdish political party in Syria, chose neutrality, aligning with neither Assad nor the opposition. Instead, the PYD focused on securing its position in the north. In 2012, it unilaterally declared the establishment of an autonomous region called Rojava (Western Kurdistan), comprising three territorially separate cantons: Afrin, Kobane, and Manbij.

Despite Turkey’s military interventions, the PYD has maintained an efficient and well-organized administration, marked by its commitment to grassroots democracy, gender equality, and minority rights. This model is exceptional in the Middle East, where aspirations for democracy have been crushed since the Arab Spring.

Today, however, this Kurdish project faces existential threats. Turkish-backed mercenaries, including the SNA, and direct Turkish military attacks, such as artillery shelling and airstrikes, endanger Rojava. Turkey’s key objective in Syria is to dismantle the multiethnic, Kurdish-led governance along its border and push the Kurdish population back into the Syrian desert. Ankara aims to establish a twenty-mile-deep “safe zone” in Kurdish territory, where it plans to resettle Syrian refugees. This move is designed to placate domestic anti-refugee sentiment while imposing ethnic change along Turkey’s border.

Turkey’s aggression extends beyond counterterrorism claims. Ankara justifies its hostility by alleging that Kurdish-controlled regions in northern Syria harbor terrorists from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has waged a guerrilla campaign against Turkey since 1984. However, Ankara has failed to provide evidence of any terrorist attacks launched against Turkey from Syrian Kurdish territories. Instead, Turkey’s actions—including military campaigns like “Euphrates Shield” and “Olive Branch”—reveal a pattern of ethnic cleansing. In Afrin, for example, Turkish forces engaged in acts that Amnesty International condemned as war crimes, including summary killings, unlawful attacks on civilians, and the forced displacement of Kurdish populations.

Despite these challenges, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the primary fighting force of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (Rojava), remains a crucial ally of the West in the fight against ISIS. The SDF has borne the brunt of ground combat against ISIS and continues to hold thousands of ISIS operatives in prisons under its control.

Recent proposals by Hayʼat Tahrir al-Sham to take over guard duty at facilities like Al-Hol prison camp—where thousands of Islamic State fighters and their families are detained—are deeply concerning. Such a scenario would effectively empower a group akin to hunters guarding their prey. A failure to support the Syrian Kurds could allow these dangerous elements to scatter, destabilizing not only Syria and the Middle East but also Europe. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has already leveraged the threat of mass migration to extract concessions from European and NATO leaders.

Turkey’s neo-Ottoman ambitions in the region are evident in its engagement in Syria since 2011. Ankara’s strategic objectives have included ousting the Assad regime, preventing Kurdish autonomy, creating a buffer zone along the Euphrates River, and protecting radical Islamist groups in Idlib. These ambitions reflect an expansionist vision with little regard for regional stability or human rights.

The Syrian Kurds represent a beacon of liberalism and democracy in a region plagued by authoritarianism and conflict. Allowing this valuable U.S. ally to succumb to Turkish expansionism would not only undermine the West’s credibility but also risk emboldening extremist forces. The international community must act decisively to support the Syrian Kurds before it is too late.