Images of PKK fighters leaving Iraq's Sinjar due to Turkish threats of invading Ninawa province to oust them. Yezidi civilians in the district gave the fighters who saved them from Da'ish an emotional farewell. (pictures)

It's very difficult for me, as an American who is active on this forum, to make confident judgements about the opposing assertions of two warring groups, neither of whom I have any connection to in real life. Over the years on this forum, the presentation of Rojava's progressive ideology and the story of Kurdish cultural oppresion in Turkey have been very compelling to people like me. Your comments in this thread are the most thought provoking anti-PYD writings that I have read. So many questions. I think the biggest are these:

How fully does PYD represent Kurdish society in southeast Turkey? Are their attacks on civilians done by extremists who operate on the fringes of a diverse, largely reasonable organization? How fully is independence desired by Kurdish society in southeast Turkey? Would the struggle for independence not continue under different organizations?

Kurdish independence itself seems good to people like me because of the history of cultural repression under Turks, but attacks on civilians are always unjustified.

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