It’s not exactly every day that a news outlet to in the Muslim world interviews a Donald Trump supporter, let alone one from the Middle East. But the Erbil, Iraq-based Kurdistan 24 did exactly, yesterday June 9 that by speaking to Lebanese-American Walid Phares, a foreign policy advisor to the Trump campaign. In the interview, Phares argued that likely U.S. Republican presidential nominee Trump will seek good relations with the Kurdish people once Daesh (ISIS) is defeated.
“Later (after Daesh is gone), we will have our diplomats meeting with the Kurdish representatives, and then together we will look at the future that what can be done to strengthen this friendship,” Phares told Kurdistan 24.
Phares further declared his support for the inclusion of Christians and Arabs and also refugees into civil society in “Rojava”-the northeast, predominantly Kurdish region of Syria controlled by the People’s Protection Units (YPG)-a Kurdish nationalist group that fights Daesh with U.S. support.
Moreover, Phares stated that keeping refugees in this part of Syria is preferable to having them flee to Europe and elsewhere. “We’d like to see the refugees being held in that area so that the European Union, the international community, the United Nations, instead of following these refugees around the world, we will have one free area,” he added.
On that note, in regards to his Middle East policy, Trump is far more often noted for his call to temporarily ban foreign Muslims from entering the U.S. which many have called bigoted. The Kurdistan 24 piece constitutes an important look at some of the other ideas those advising him hold.
--AL
