Turkish invasion brings risk of genocide

President Donald Trump continued to defend pulling U.S. troops from northeastern Syria while civilians fled a Turkish bombardment. As the offensive entered its second day, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan claimed his military killed 109 “terrorists.” Trump said the Kurds in the area, who helped a U.S.-led coalition defeat Islamic State (ISIS), are battling for their own land. “They didn’t help us in the Second World War, they didn’t help us with Normandy, for example,” he said.

What kind of conflict is this? The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces warned a U.S. withdrawal from northeastern Syria could lead to a “humanitarian catastrophe.” Kurds, Christians, and Yazidis, are at grave risk of genocide, Genocide Watch said this week. A war monitoring group recorded at least seven civilian deaths so far, including Syriac Christians.

Dig deeper: Read Mindy Belz’s WORLD Magazine report on the ongoing Turkish offensive.