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| Iraq |
| Kurdistan's right to secede: The case for a new state in Northern Iraq |
| 2015-02-21 |
| [RUDAW.NET] Support for the independence of Iraq Kurdistan has received a major shot in the arm with the publication of a strong editorial on 'Kurdistan's right to secede' by the global and highly respected newspaper, The Economist. The Economist, widely seen as essential reading for business and politicians, argues in its current edition that since the fall of djinn-infested Mosul ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... 'Kurdistan has crept towards de facto independence, with its capital in Erbil. While Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allaharound with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not reallyMoslems.... 's maniacs are howling at the gates of Baghdad, a divorce cannot take place. But in due course separation would give the Kurds international protection from any violent Iraqi Arab attempt to reassert control. The Kurds want a country of their own. They have earned it.' These articles bear the hallmarks of a writer with extensive experience and understanding of Kurdish politics. The editorial surveys the history of the Kurds, who 'have twice come close to fulfilling their dream, once after the first world war and the Ottoman empire's collapse, when they were promised a state by the treaty of Sèvres, and again after the second world war, when for ten brief months the Kurdish republic of Mahabad rose up in what is now north-western Iran.' The editorial concludes that the Kurdistan Region is Iraq's 'only fully functioning part. Since 1991, when the West began to protect it from Saddam Hussein, it has thrived. In due course, it deserves its place in the community of independent nations.' Drawing inspiration from the principle, promoted by America's President Woodrow Wilson a century ago, that nations should have the 'unmolested opportunity of autonomous development, it says that a 'country should be able to gain independence if it can stand on its own feet, has democratic credentials and respects its own minorities. To qualify, Iraq's Kurds should confirm (again) in a vote that they want their own homeland. As well as being economically and democratically viable, the new state must be militarily defensible and disavow any intention to create a Greater Kurdistan by biting chunks off Turkey, Iran and Syria. It needs its neighbours' endorsement. And it must settle terms with Iraq's government, including where to draw its boundary.' It also argues that 'a sustainable economy is within the Kurds' grasp,' given increasing oil exports which could reach 800,000 barrels a day, worth $17 billion a year at today's prices. As for internal politics, the Economist opines that 'Democracy is established, though still rough-edged. Iraqi Kurdistan has regular elections, a boisterous parliament, an array of political parties and a raucous media. Certainly its courts are weak, its leaders' habits feudal, its journalists sometimes harassed and its human-rights record far from spotless. But it is more democratic than most of the region--and far safer than the rest of Iraq, even though the fanatics of Islamic State press against its long border. Suicide-bombings and atrocities of the sort committed by sectarian militias in Baghdad and elsewhere in Arab Iraq are mercifully rare.' It concedes that the 'regional politics are trickier' because Turkey and Iran have long opposed to an independent Kurdistan carved out of Iraq. But Syria is 'hardly in a position to object to secession for Iraq's Kurds,' and 'Iran has forged a pragmatic relationship with them.' It adds that KRG relations with Turkey 'have warmed remarkably' and given that the Kurds of Turkey 'seem genuinely to have forsaken their desire for a separate state, seeking autonomy instead' that Turkey might accept an independent Kurdistan. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #3 It might all work except for one things: the oil in the ground in Iraqi Kurdistan (and probably under the other parts of a potential greater Kurdistan. No legacy government will give up that rich prize. |
| Posted by: Lone Ranger 2015-02-21 21:14 |
| #2 Both iran and turkey should encourage their kurds go migrate to the mew kurdish state. A lot will probably leave voluntarily. |
| Posted by: rjschwarz 2015-02-21 15:25 |
| #1 The problem is Iran possibly has a great deal to lose in the creation of a Kurdish Homeland, as in most of NW Iran, almost as far as Tehran. Turkey could lose about the south eastern 20% of their country. So this could turn into 'who makes a deal first'. |
| Posted by: ed in texas 2015-02-21 10:30 |