Activists came together in Sydney for a hastily arranged protest over what the Kurdish community says is the latest blow in decades of international injustice against them.
The Turkish military, together with the Free Syrian Army, will cross the Syrian border "shortly", President Tayyip Erdogan's communications director has said as Ankara starts a military incursion in the region.
Turkey says it is ready to advance into northeast Syria now that the United States has begun withdrawing troops from the Turkey-Syria frontier in an abrupt policy shift by US President Donald Trump widely criticised in Washington as a betrayal of America's allies, the Kurds.
In a tweet early on Wednesday, Fahrettin Altun said that Kurdish militants there could either defect or Ankara would have to "stop them from disrupting" Turkey's struggle against the Islamic State militants.
Protesters gathered outside Sydney's Town Hall. Source: SBS News
The circumstances have worried the Kurdish community in Australia, echoing protests seen across the world.
"The community is very concerned about all these things. It is heartbreaking for us, Democratic Kurdish Federation of Australia's Ismet Tastan said.
Others believe the US President's decision will only amount to further bloodshed.
"Basically, Donald Trump's announcement was effectively a green light for the genocide of Kurds in Syria," Kurdish academic Dr Roni Demirbag added.
Kurdish fighters claim they now feel abandoned given the US troop withdrawal in northern Syria effectively leaves them open to a greater risk of a Turkish invasion.
"Today we condemn the international community because they have deserted these people," protester Abdel Halim Akko exclaimed.
For activists, it's the latest incident in a long list of betrayals since hopes of a Kurdish state failed to materialise in the wake of World War One.
Between 25 and 35 million Kurds currently live in the Middle East, making them the region's fourth-largest ethnic group.
In Iraq, they were the target of a deadly 1988 chemical attack by Saddam Hussein's regime.
A Kurdish independence referendum in 2017 backfired spectacularly with an overwhelming "yes" vote - ending with Baghdad reasserting its control and retaking territory.
In Syria - Kurdish fighters have acted as the primary ground force against I-S. Demands though for Kurdish autonomy - as part of a political settlement to the Syrian conflict - have been rejected.
But it's Turkey - they say that poses the biggest, current threat.
Dr Roni Demirbag maintains the current political playing-field is utterly imbalanced.
"I think it's morally unacceptable, it's unfair - because Kurds have been enthusiastically participating in the struggle against ISIS."
The protesters are now turning their attention to the Australian government who they say must now step up and pressure President Trump to reverse his decision.
