2014 June 19 Thursday
Kurdish Peshmerga Still Clearing ISIS Out Of Some Kurd Areas
It will be telling if the Kurds manage to drive ISIS out of all the territory the Kurds consider to be Kurdish. The Kurds and ISIS Sunni Jihadists are still battling over territory that the Kurds consider part of their homeland.
“Fights are still ongoing in Hawija, Zab, Abasiya, and Rashad districts, which make up 3,000 square kilometers,” confirmed Awat Muhammed, a member of the Kirkuk Provincial Council.
The Kurds say they are not going to relinquish any of the territories they now control.
If the US government was serious about undermining the ISIS one way to do it would be to send the Kurds better weapons. The Kurds would use them and not crack under slight pressure.
By Randall Parker at 2014 June 19 12:00 AM
What do you think are the long-term implications of an independent Kurdistan existing next to Turkey?
In the past, Turkey has often has intermittently intervened in parts of Northern Iraq where the Kurds are located, by clandestinely sending elite commandos: the goal was to weaken the Kurds in Iraq. 20 % of the Turkish population is of Kurdish ancestry, and the ethnic Kurdish population is increasing much faster than the other groups in Turkey, meaning that within a generation it will be very difficult to combat the separatist movement because in the south-eastern part of Turkey the Kurds are already the majority. The Kurds in Syria have already attained local autonomy, and the same situation exists in Iraq. However, until recently the Kurds were economically too impoverished to get organized, but this has changed recently because the Iraqi Kurds now control a lot of oil fields in their region, and this money will almost certainly be used to bolster the Kurds in Turkey as well, and this is one thing Turkey is worried about. For this reason, it is possible that Turkey will once again intervene in Iraq.
Although Turkey is one of the more stable countries in the Middle East it nevertheless also has significant potential for internal conflict. It seems that an independent Kurdistan is likely to eventually destabilize Turkey.
Turkey has three choices. They could try to undermine Kurdish independence in Iraq. Which would keep the region perpetually destabilized. Or they could support an independent kurdistan and encourage their Kurds to migrate to it. Or they could start preparing to cede part of Turkey to an independent Kurdistan. If the Kurdish population is really booming in Turkey then it's inevitable. So the smartest thing they can do might be to cut those areas loose before the Kurdish population becomes a majority in other parts of Turkey as well. If they do it sooner they can do it on their own terms. This means they can sacrifice less of their land and even make relocation of Kurds from the rest of Turkey part of the deal. They could also develop Kurdistan as an ally by supporting the new Kurdish state with free trade and a joint military treaty. Of course, people being what they are, Turks will probably try to hang on to every inch, end up fighting and losing more than they would have.
What you say sounds very rational but it is not the way people react to these kinds of things.
destructure - I would be interested to hear your thoughts on what parallels if any exit between the Turkish-Kurdish situation today and the Turkish-Armenian affair of a century ago.