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Kurds of Iraq's north may declare
independence: Asharq al-Awsat
1.12.2011 |
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December 1, 2011
LONDON, — A
critical issue that is being affected by the
intention of the US to withdraw from Iraq is what
will happen to Kurdistan autonomous region that is
formally still under Baghdad's control, a world
renowned expert on Middle Eastern affairs,
Ambassador Dore Gold said in his article, the
panarmenian.net reported.
“Last week, the Saudi-owned Asharq al-Awsat
newspaper published a column saying that it might
come as a shock for some readers, but it is now
inevitable that the Kurds of Northern Iraq, who now
have their own Kurdistan Regional Government KRG,
will declare their independence. There were several
reasons given to substantiate this prediction.
Kurdish public opinion was undoubtedly influenced by
the independence of South Sudan on July 9, 2011.
Both the Kurds and the South Sudanese had fought
against Arab dictatorships which used genocide and
ethnic cleansing against them.
There are also important external developments
shaping the course of events. The US is withdrawing
from Iraq, where it served as a critical stabilizing
force and intermediary between the Kurdish Regional
Government in Northern Iraq and the Iraqi Central
Government in Baghdad. Turkey's views are also
changing. It has long had the greatest reservations
in the Middle East from the independence of an Iraqi
Kurdish state. The CIA estimates that as much as a
fifth of Iraq's population of 30 million are
Kurds--or roughly 6 million.
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Ambassador Dore Gold is President of the Jerusalem
Center for Public Affairs. He was the eleventh
Permanent Representative of Israel to the United
Nations (1997-1999). Previously he served as Foreign
Policy Advisor to the former Prime Minister of
Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu. Photo: jcpa.org |
However, In Turkey,
there is a much larger Kurdish population which the
CIA estimates is about 18 per cent of the Turkish
population, or about 14 million Kurds, other sources
estimates Kurds in Turkey to over 20 million. It was
thought that a Kurdish state seceding from Iraq
might cause the Turkish Kurds to seek independence,
as well.
But in the last number of years, Turkey's relations
with the government of Iraqi Kurdistan have
improved. Reportedly, Turkish companies have become
active in Iraqi Kurdistan, even dominating its
economy. Iraq's Kurdish leaders at the same time do
not seem to be enraged at Turkey's cross-border
military incursions into their territory to destroy
the training camps of the PKK. Given these
developments, Turkish objections to Kurdish
independence are undergoing a process of change. In
the meantime,www.ekurd.net
in most of Iraqi Kurdistan while the Kurdish flag is
flown, the Iraqi flag is hardly raised. And the
Kurdish Regional Government has begun to reach
agreements with international oil companies, like
Exxon, circumventing the Iraqi government in
Baghdad.
Iraqi Kurds have bitter memories from the period of
Saddam Hussein when they were dominated by the Arabs
of Iraq. In the late 1980's, Saddam, employed
chemical weapons against Iraqi Kurdish villages.
Kurdish politicians can point to Kurdish rights that
were once recognized by the West in the past. For
example, under the 1920 Treaty of Sevres, the
Ottoman Empire relinquished its sovereignty over
areas outside of Anatolia (like Eretz Israel),
including Kurdistan, "east of the Euphrates and
south of the southern boundary of Armenia." The area
was to be autonomous, yet there was a provision that
within a year the Kurds could appeal to the League
of Nations for independence.
By 1923, Turkey recovered all of its Kurdish areas
from the allied powers. Two years later, the
British, who became aware of the oil resources of
Northern Iraq, convinced the League of Nations to
alter Iraq's northern border to incorporate Mosul
and the areas in which the Kurds lived. Kurdish
independence had been quashed in both Turkey and in
Iraq. But the idea of Kurdish independence had not
died for reasons explained above. Masrour Barzani,
the head of intelligence for Kurdistan region in
Iraq and the son of its president, Massoud Barzani,
has been calling for "a three state solution" for
Iraq, by which an independent Kurdish state emerges
that will be linked to Sunni and Shiite states in a
confederation.
The Kurdish question places many states in the West
in a hypocritical position, especially given the
efforts they constantly invest in the Palestinian
issue. There are close to 30 million Kurds today
spread out between Turkey, Iran, Syria, and Armenia,
who do not benefit from the right of
self-determination, which was granted to them over
90 years ago, after the First World War. The Kurds
understand that there is a double standard that the
international community has adopted when the issue
of Kurdish independence is raised. For that reason,
up until now their leaders have been careful not to
seek their own state. But there are increasing signs
that this position is about to change,” the article
concluded.
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