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Iraq-Jordan
Kurdish party says self-rule inevitable
2005-02-03
Kurdish self-rule is inevitable if not imminent, according to Kurdistan Democratic Party chief Masud Barzani. Commenting on an almost unanimous vote for independence in an unofficial referendum held on 30 January, Masud Barzani said on Wednesday that "when the right time comes it will become a reality".

"Self-determination is the natural right of our people, and they have the right to express their desires," he added. Barzani heads one of the two main Kurdish groups which control Iraq's northern Kurdish zone. The KDP leader was speaking three days after more than 1.9 million Iraqi Kurds - some 95% of those asked - voted for independence in an informal survey conducted by volunteers. Iraqi Kurds have long pushed for independence, but Turkey, Iran and Syria - all with substantial Kurdish minorities - oppose the establishment of Kurdish state on their borders.
Posted by:Fred

#5  self rule != independence.

Any Kurdish politician with an ounce of strategic sense would rather be autonomous inside a federal Iraq, than out on his own, landlocked, and surrounded by states none of whom could be counted on to be friendly and some of whom could be counted on to be deadly enemies.
Posted by: Liberalhawk   2005-02-03 12:16:44 PM  

#4  The Kurd's are badasses (at least Saladin was) and I'm amazed the local Arab states can't get beyond their prejudices and get the Kurds fighting for them (sort of a Gurkha/Scots sort of thing).

Not only that the Kurds could then be used as leverage against neighbors with Kurdish populations who might be afraid of mixed kurdish sympathies.

A wiley Turk following such a pattern could have taken half of Northern Iraq and Iran while those two were bleeding each other white. They could have created a Kurdish state at the expense of others.
Posted by: rjschwarz   2005-02-03 10:57:24 AM  

#3  Lol! Let it be the other Arabs, the Shi'a. The Kurds have earned a bye, lol!
Posted by: .com   2005-02-03 12:22:51 AM  

#2  Somebody has to keep the Sunnis down.
Posted by: someone   2005-02-03 12:19:55 AM  

#1  Indeed.

The absurdity that is Iraq, that is a confabulation of Sykes-Picot, that saddles the Kurds' future with the stupidity and backward Sunnis, will eventually be addressed. And, in the end, only Partition or Independence will adequately and fairly resolve the matter.
Posted by: .com   2005-02-03 12:09:16 AM  

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