For a while, Turkish media affiliated with Erdogan’s government have been spreading false and misleading information linking the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to Iranian regime forces. A Turkish correspondent for Yeni Safak, for instance, alleged that Kurdish forces have contracted to purchase 1500 suicide drones from Iran. Similarly fabricated allegations have been made by government-linked journalists and bloggers, as well as by social media influencers representing the official stance of the Turkish state. In some cases, this messaging has succeeded in infiltrating Israel’s media, slandering Kurdish troops in Syria and Iraq. While linking Kurds to Iran, Turkish media outlets and antisemitic social media influencers accuse the Kurds of embracing “Zionist agendas” and betraying the “Muslim world”. In the past, Turkish officials attempted to persuade their Syrian, Iranian, and Russian counterparts that the Kurdish forces in Syria are agents of America and Israel, posing the greatest threat to their interests. Kurdish representatives have vehemently rejected these claims, emphasizing that they have not attempted to acquire Iranian drones or to establish ties with the Iranian regime—a regime that has sown discord in Syria to undermine Kurdish forces while executing Kurdish activists in Iran on a daily basis. What is behind the false and misleading information spread by the Turkish media outlets?
The Turkish government has adopted a no-holds-barred approach to blocking any progress towards Kurdish political self-determination or the exercise of Kurdish cultural rights. The Turkish president has also publicly stated that a mistake was made in 2003 when Turkish decision-makers allowed Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region to emerge. He declared that Ankara would refrain from making the same error of allowing a second Kurdistan autonomous region to develop along its borders, especially in northeastern Syria. As part of this objective, the Turkish state is pursuing a malignant strategy aimed at disrupting a natural alliance between Kurdish forces, Israel, and Western powers to advance the movement of the Middle East towards democracy and peace. Within this context, the Turkish media and government have launched a smear campaign against Kurdish forces by associating them and their demands with Iran’s dictatorial regime in order to push the US to withdraw its troops from Syria and to impede Israel’s support for Kurdish cultural and political rights in the Middle East. Turkish media outlets promote the government’s anti-Kurdish narrative by stepping in where the government falls short. To understand this connection, we should keep in mind that Turkey’s authoritarian regime has already decimated the free press, compelling remaining media outlets to toe the line and thus to serve its imperialistic ambitions. Through this strategy, the Turkish state seeks to isolate both the Kurdish forces in northeastern Syria (Rojava) and Israel, thereby rendering them vulnerable to the attacks of the authoritarian and Islamist forces with which it maintains close contacts.
Since October 7, the Turkish regime has served as a diplomatic mouthpiece for Hamas by demonizing Israel with unfounded accusations. Associating the Kurds with Israel, this demonization has extended to them as well, making them targets of the Iranian regime and its proxies as well. This tactic has led to an unprecedented rise in antisemitism and anti-Kurdish sentiments throughout Turkey. However, the defeat of Iranian proxies in Gaza, Lebanon, and Syria appears to have prompted the Turkish regime and its institutions, including the media, to sow discord and mistrust between the Kurds, the American administration, and Israel, putting as many obstacles to their strategic and long-term cooperation as possible. However, there is no substantiated evidence to suggest that the Kurdish factions are affiliated with the Iranian regime. The vast majority of Kurds, including those in the diaspora, regard the Iranian regime as an oppressor and the Jewish community as their natural ally. Kurds have been a constant target of Iranian regimes from the 18th-century Qajar dynasty to the present, subjecting them to the same persecution, execution, and displacement as their counterparts in Turkey, Iraq, and Syria suffered during the same period. Since its establishment in 1979, the Islamic Republic of Iran has characterized Kurdish movements as “parties of Satan,” accusing them of representing “American imperialism” and “Zionism.” By linking the cultural and human rights aspirations of the Kurdish population to the interests of the United States and Israel, the regime has justified its cruel persecution of Kurds both in Iran and abroad. The regime forces, for example, assassinated Kurdish leaders in Vienna and Berlin while conducting direct attacks on Kurdish activists in the neighboring states.
Today, the Iranian regime wastes no time in executing Kurdish activists and prisoners, accusing them of collaboration with Israel and the US. The case of Jina Amini, who was beaten to death by religious morality police in September 2022, demonstrates the extent to which harsh policies against the Kurdish population in Iran are not an exception but rather the norm. While Iranian repression of Kurds has endured for decades, Kurdish activists formed numerous armed and unarmed resistance movements. It is worth noting that just a few years ago, Kurdish factions coordinated strikes and inspired acts of civil disobedience throughout the country under the slogan “Jin, Jîyan, Azadî—woman, life, freedom.” During my field research, Kurdish activists from Iran in the European diaspora told me that their compatriots are willing to engage in any form of resistance to bring down the tyrannical Islamic regime and to fill the vacuum of power with a democratic and secular system. They also specifically expressed their appreciation for Israel’s efforts to initiate the democratization process in the Middle East by dismantling the regime’s influence through its regional proxies. Moreover, they emphasized the significance of the Jewish-Kurdish alliance in the democratization in the Middle East, highlighting its role in countering the threats posed by pan-Sunni Islamist and pan-Shia Islamist ideologies, which are driven by the imperial ambitions of Turkey and Iran, respectively.
The aspirations of the Kurdish population to forge a sustainable alliance in the Middle East and the diaspora have transcended mere rhetoric, manifesting in tangible actions on the ground. Kurdish protestors, along with members of Jewish communities in Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and Switzerland, organized numerous demonstrations during which they raised the Kurdish and Israeli flags and condemned Hamas atrocities on October 7, anti-Kurdish policies in Iran, and Turkey’s ongoing genocidal onslaught in Rojava, while also appealing to Kurdish and Israeli policymakers to forge a strategic alliance. Kurdish activists and politicians emphasized that Kurdish-Jewish cooperation, based on their shared history of suffering, common future vision, and common enemies, is essential to promoting democratic and secular values, peace, and freedom in the Middle East. Historically, the Turkish and Iranian regimes have punished the Kurds for their friendly and supportive attitudes toward the Jewish population and Israel. Despite the ongoing repressive measures of these regimes, Kurds in the Middle East and diaspora recognize Israel’s critical role in transforming the status quo, preventing imperial Turkish and Iranian imperialism, and promoting a peaceful and democratic Middle East.
Finally, it is evident that the Turkish media follows a strategy devised by the Turkish state, purposely presenting fabricated claims and misleading information in order to undermine cooperation between Kurds and Israelis. By sowing mistrust and discord regarding the Kurdish links with anti-Western, antisemitic, and anti-Kurdish adversaries in Tehran, the Turkish media, which serves as the mouthpiece of the Turkish regime, aims to disturb growing bonds between the Jewish and Kurdish communities in the Middle East and beyond, and thus to sabotage their efforts to promote security, peace, and democratization in the Middle East. But indigenous ethnic and religious communities—Jews, Kurds, Druze, and others—have been longing for a new Middle East where they can live in peaceful co-existence. Therefore, it is crucial for Israeli and Kurdish journalists, academics, and politicians to critically reflect on the malicious intent behind Turkish media coverage and its anti-Kurdish and antisemitic smear campaigns.”