Sen. Ted Cruz says Trump will likely support Kurds more than Obama

WASHINGTON, DC, United States (Kurdistan24) – Senator Ted Cruz, Republican Senator from Texas, told Kurdistan24 on Thursday he believes the next US president will have “a much different policy” toward the Kurds. Cruz is “hopeful” that Donald Trump will stand “directly” with the Peshmerga “in a way that the Obama administration was unwilling to do.”

Kurdish officials, including Chancellor of the Kurdistan Region Security Council, Masrour Barzani, have expressed similar optimism about the future of relations between Erbil and Washington under the new US administration.

Senator Cruz’ statement, however, represents the first time that a major and influential US political figure has expressed such views. 

Cruz was one of seventeen Republicans who competed for their party’s nomination in the 2016 presidential primaries, and he prevailed over all of Trump’s other rivals. Cruz was, thus, the last candidate to drop out of the contest and cede the nomination to the man who would become America’s 45th president.

Cruz sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee. He is in a position to influence the stance of the Republican-controlled Senate on this issue, as well as that of the White House.

Cruz has great empathy with the Kurds. “I have been a long-standing” advocate “of supporting the Kurds, the Peshmerga, who are on the front lines, fighting [the Islamic State], fighting against the face of evil,” the Senator told Kurdistan24.

He added, “The Kurds have been long-time loyal allies of America, and I believe America will continue to be loyal allies of the Kurds.”

Trump has said nothing publicly about the Kurds since being elected, but while on the campaign trail, he spoke very highly of them, using language similar to that expressed by Cruz. 

"I will tell you that we should be using and utilizing [the Kurds],” Trump affirmed while campaigning in Nashville. “They are great fighters, they have great heart. We should be using those people.”

Trump has identified the Islamic State (IS) as the principle threat to the US. He will make defeating IS his top national security priority. Given Trump’s high regard for the Peshmerga, it would seem only logical to turn to them for help, and for the US to fully support them, as it does so.

Cruz noted, however, that the Obama administration has never really shared this perspective, and the Kurds have suffered accordingly. Yet, as the Texas Republican suggested, there is a substantial reason for optimism about the next administration’s policy on this matter.

Editing by Delovan Barwari 

(Rahim Rashidi conducted the interview)