The Kurds occupy a region straddling the borders of Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey. While Kurds in northern Iraq have been relatively co-existing with other Iraqis, enjoying a degree of autonomy, and in Syria enjoying the protection of Assad along with Syria's other minority groups, the Kurds in Turkey have been fighting a decades long battle against the government who has pursued them within and beyond Turkey's borders. If Kurds are armed by the US, they will head to Ankara, not Damascus - thus Washington's latest threat was made toward Turkey, not Syria.