Trump’s Turkey Sanctions Could be “Too Little, Too Late,” Says Brown University Professor Al-Ali
Wednesday, October 16, 2019
Brown University Professor of Anthropology and Middle East Studies Nadje Al-Ali joined GoLocalProv News Editor Kate Nagle on GoLocal LIVE, where she spoke to the situation unfolding in Syria, following President Donald Trump’s order to remove troops from the northern part of the country.
“For the last two decades I’ve studied women and gender with reference to several countries in the Middle East — Iraq, Egypt, Lebanon, but most recently I actually focused on the Kurdish women’s organizations in Turkey and also in Syria and Northern Iraq,” said Al-Ali.
“I think for me one of the really compelling, or one of the most outrageous aspects of what is happening, is that we have for the first time a political movement that actually centers women’s equality and gender-based justice in its movement. You know, in the past, every time there were liberation struggles, whether they were against colonialism or against occupation, class struggle, women were always told okay, let’s solve the big issues and then we will focus on women’s issues,” said Al-Ali. “Now, the Kurdish political movement actually says, if we want justice, if we want equality, if we want radical democracy — gender-based equality, women’s rights — it’s at the center.”
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“But I think even in the context of what we’ve seen so far with this government, it was quite shocking — I mean, I would have hoped that even President Trump wouldn’t go so far in betraying the very people that have been at the forefront fighting ISIS,” said Al-Ali, who said the now escalating conflict is “destroying a utopian dream of equality.”
The U.S. imposed new sanctions against Turkish officials and institutions over the country's incursion into northern Syria, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and Vice President Mike Pence announced outside the White House on Monday.
“I’m personally also advocating for boycotting Turkey, both in terms of tourism, in terms of products, in terms of academic sanctions,” said Al-Ali. “By putting more pressure on the government, it’s a bit too little too late — but you know, better late than never, something needs to be done very very quickly.”
“One of the dangers we might see unfold — is if you see Turkey on one hand, then, on the other hand, Syria and Russia, and if the U.S. gets involved at this point — it would really blow up," said Al-Ali. "But I think it is still not too late for the government to actually contain the situation.”
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