Lesson #1 - The Kurds! Turkey, Syria, Iraq & ISIS/ISL!

The Mideast 101:

I read a front page article in The New York Times today and my head is still spinning.   Let me try to make sense of… nevermind…let me to try and understand…because none of this makes any sense to me…but I’m just an ignorant American.   Let me try to sort this out…if for nothing else, just for my benefit!   Obviously this is going to require more in-depth research on my part (soon to follow)!

ISIS/ISL:
ISIS is the shorthand for the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.   Or, if you prefer, you can use the term ISL, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.   Levant?   WTF?   Check The Washington Post for additional details on who's who.   These are the religious wackos who be-head folks!   I think other mideast nations are also into be-heading people, but that's a whole 'nother subject!   Anyway…these folks are supposedly extreme Sunni militants?   I think they’re Sunni militants?   No?   Wasn't Saddam Hussein (aka...WMD) a Sunni"   I need to dig into all of this.   ISIS/ISL has been battling Kurdish militants trying to defend a town named Kobani, a besieged area in Syria (on the Turkey/Syria border)?

The Kurds:
These folks live in Turkey, Syria, Iraq and a few other places in the Middle East.   Turkey is trying to prevent its Kurdish residents from entering into bordering Syria to help their Kurdish brethren fight ISIS/ISL.   Why?   Because the Kurdish folks in Turkey are considered “separatists” fighting against the Turkish regime?   In the mean time, Syrian Kurds are fleeing (by the thousands) into Turkey to escape the wacko ISIS/ISL folks!

Confused?   I am!

Here’s to add to the confusion!   Turkey is worried that the American efforts against ISIS/ISL will strengthen the position of the Syrian Kurds.   By the way, the Syrian Kurds maintain close ties to the Kurdish separatists in Turkey.   Oh…and by the way…the good ole US of A is allied with the Kurds in Iraq!

Still confused?   Did I mention Assad!   Go figure!   I’m determined to sort through this insanity!   I think religion may have something to do with this!   No?