30. Is This the End of Rojava?
POPULAR FRONT
Jake Hanrahan
4.8 • 978 Ratings
🗓️ 23 December 2018
⏱️ 26 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This week Donald Trump decided to rapidly pull out all the US forces currently backing the Kurdish YPG militia in Northern Syria, known as Rojava to the Kurds. The YPG has proven to be the strongest ally for the US when fighting ISIS, but now they'll be left alone for Turkey to attack.
We speak with journalist Wladimir van Wilgenburg, who's dedicated his career to covering the Kurdish issue. He speaks Kurdish fluently (both Sorani and Kurmanji) and was in Rojava just last week.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is popular front a podcast focus on the very niche and kind of geeky |
| 0:07.4 | details of Modern Warfare with me Jake Hanrahan. Today we're speaking to Vladimir Van Wilgenberg. |
| 0:15.0 | I was going to have someone else on this week, but then President Trump in the US |
| 0:18.8 | suddenly decided that he was going to pull all of the US troops out of Syria, which, you know, is a big deal. |
| 0:25.2 | I thought you lot would want to hear about this. |
| 0:27.2 | Now, Trump has decided to pull them out kind of rapidly. |
| 0:30.4 | I think they're going to be pulling out in 60 to 100 days which means big problems for |
| 0:34.4 | the YPG the Kurdish-backed forces in northeast Syria also known as |
| 0:38.8 | Rajava the YPG are considered the best fighting force for the US to be allied within Syria, fighting ISIS. |
| 0:46.0 | Trump has said, oh, its mission accomplished, ISIS have finished in Syria. |
| 0:50.0 | That's not true, the YPG is still fighting ISIS in Hadgin Pocket, still fighting ISIS in |
| 0:55.6 | Darazore. |
| 0:56.6 | So I got Vlad on to talk about the situation. |
| 1:00.2 | He was in Northeast Syria last week, he was in Rajavaava and you know he is Vlad is unapologetically pro-Y-P-G sure |
| 1:08.8 | But this guy speaks fluently to Kurdish languages. He's probably been in Rojava more than any other |
| 1:14.5 | journalists that I can think of so I think what he's got to say is |
| 1:17.5 | definitely relevant. You don't have to take it on board but he will give you an |
| 1:20.4 | idea of the situation that's probably going to unfold now that Turkey |
| 1:25.3 | are very likely going to invade northeast Syria. Apologies the sound is bad on this but |
| 1:29.7 | we had to do it quick and had to do it over the phone. |
| 1:34.0 | So Vlad why do you think Trump has decided to do this now? |
| 1:37.0 | So I think for some reason he felt like, |
... |
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