Yet now Kurdish children are being burned with napalm and white phosphorus; 70,000 Kurds have been displaced; and Amnesty International has uncovered evidence of war crimes, including untried executions. The invasion by Turkish forces is illegal: this is the same Turkey which banned Kurdish names and dress, restricted their language, resettled them on a mass scale and denied even their existence throughout the 20th century, despite making up 15-20% of the Turkish population.
"The callousness shown by the west towards the Kurdish people is nothing less than sickening"
Our wilful ignorance of the bloodshed - now that it has become politically inconvenient to intervene in the Middle East - is at odds with our claims to want democracy and peace. The absolute disregard and callousness shown by the west towards the people we claim to want to protect is nothing less than sickening. It is a gross image of our own selfishness staring the world in the face. We absolutely must use our influence as an economic power to prevent any further slaughter, even while the US is failing.
It may be argued that this is not our war to fight. Yet if we are content to abandon this ethnic group who have been endlessly persecuted and who have fought with us against a common enemy, all for the sake of maintaining common foreign policy with the USA or not getting our hands dirty, then we default to the side of the persecutor. History will not look kindly upon our cowardice.