Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu today warned that every option is on the table for dealing with Iraqi Kurdistan’s independence bid, and that they are considering a joint military operation with the Iraqi central government against the Kurds.
Iran chimed in shortly thereafter, saying they’re eager to stand with both Iraq and Turkey to rule out any possible secession of the Kurds. Top Khamenei adviser Ali Akbar Velayati termed the big “an abhorrent deviation,” adding that the region would “not allow the creation of a second Israel.”
Iraqi officials haven’t directly addressed the possibility of military action against the Kurds, though the Iraqi parliament has approved the deployment of the military into areas contested by the Kurdistan Regional Government.
It’s long been feared Kurdistan’s independence would mean a fight. Kurdish officials have spent the last several years building up the Peshmerga into a substantial, US-armed fighting force, though it’s not at all clear they could hold their own against three nations at once.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was a lot more direct about what is being discussed here, warning that the secession attempt could lead to an “ethnic war” of the region against the Kurds.
Way too much emphasis on ethnic identity is being placed upon the region in an effort to sow divisions. It’s literally like coming here and saying, “the Hillbillies of Appalachia want their own state”
Looking at the Red-Blue vote breakdown of American elections over the past two decades you could argue that two very different societies and visions inhabit the the territorial USA and I suspect many would be happier, at east from the social and cultural angle in separate political entities.
The Kurds have been fighting for independence for a long time. Saddam had this under control but the American government of Iraq is not going to be able to manage this problem.
Notice the absence of Syria?
I don’t know how Turkey think this could lead to a ethnic war against the Kurds ? Turkey has always had a ethnic war against the Kurds . Syria is the only country that would consider giving the Kurds equal rights and Syria is the only country that the Kurds don’t care if they stay together with .. Kurds would like to leave three of these countries but they would like to take their homes and land with them . There are 30 to 40 million Kurds spread out in four countries . More than enough people to make a thriving country .
No guarantee of thriving but they certainly make a more legitimate case than many other micro-states which have been carved out of carved out of disfunctional nations.
The principle of a Kurdish homeland should not be a controversial issue. The terms and details of such a state and due consideration to other stakeholders do require some negotiation, and the potential of the Kurdish entity being an accessory to outside imperial interests is a legitimate concern.
“A secular and womens rights supporting democratic state”
Only by comparison. That is far from the whole truth of Kurdish treatment of women, religion, or democracy.