People of SU / Society / Justice and Law

Seattle U in the News: Q13 Fox story about Turkey's offensive in Kurdish Syria

October 10, 2019

Onur Bakiner, an assistant professor of political science at Seattle University, said he believes the military invasion will deepen the humanitarian crisis.

Watch Q13's story, "‘We don’t deserve to be slaughtered’: Kurdish business owner speaks out against Turkish offensive," here

Excerpt from the story:

Onur Bakiner, an assistant professor of political science at Seattle University, said he believes the military invasion will deepen the humanitarian crisis.

“It’s disconcerting. Personally, I believe there could’ve been a nonviolent solution to the local entities and the Turkish government,” said Bakiner.

The International Rescue Committee reports it is on a crisis watch and that the Turkish offensive could displace 300,000 Syrians.

Another genuine fear is the potential return of ISIS, or another entity like it.

“As many as 11,000 ISIS fighters are actually in prisons in Northern Syria now that are operated by the political movement,” said Bakiner. “It’s not clear who is going to secure these prisons in the context of this war.”

That's why both Bakiner and Firat say everyone should be paying attention to the violent war taking place on the Turkish-Syrian border.