For more than a century, the demand or desire for a Kurdish state somehow divided the Kurdish people and their neighbors in terms of their opinion toward an independent Kurdish state. Kurds are possibly on of the largest ethnic groups in the world that do not own a country of their own. They are the largest minorities in Iraq, Iran, Turkey, and Syria (Murray p.31). It has been a challenge due to the radical ideologies of the neighboring countries toward an independent Kurdish state since they always translated that step as a threat to the repeating of the scenario to the Kurds in their own country. It is usually hard to express your self as a Kurd when people ask you about your place of origin. A Turk, Egyptian, or American can almost easily be recognized as they mention the name of their country. “Kurdistan” has been a term to express optimism toward the possible country the Kurds might have. It is commonly thought of as a utopian state where all Kurds live together and have their own rights despite their differences. The autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan has raised the question whether it is an appropriate time to declare an independent south Kurdish state in the hope that the other parts will merge later. Some people might claim that the time is not yet appropriate due to many difficulties regarding economy, geography and politics. On the other hand, some state that Kurds are facing their most powerful era in terms of the aspects needed to establish a country.
One of the sides is refusing a current declaration of independence in the Iraqi Kurdistan region. Some argue that the current Kurdish economical power is not adequate to sustain a country on it’s own due to the possible economic sanction the surrounding countries mig...
... middle of paper ...
...elation with the Kurds day by day which indicates a better chance of the Turkish approval of a Kurdish state.
Works Cited
Abdulla, Alan. "Why is USA supporting a Kurdish state in Iraq's Kurdistan region ?" March 2012. eKurd. 11 April 2014 .
Grant Smith, Nayla Razzouk. "Iraq’s Kurds to Export Oil by New Pipeline ‘Very Soon’." June 2013. Bloomberg. 11 April 2014 .
Murray, Andrew. "The Kurdish Struggle." Patterns of Prejudice. Vol. 9. 1975. 48 vols. 31-36.
The Kurdish Globe. "Turkish company assets in Kurdistan over US$621 million." July 2010. Kudish Globe. 11 April 2014 .
van Bruinessen, Martin. "Kurdistan." Oxford Companion to the Politics of the World, 2nd edition. Joel Krieger, ed. Oxford University Press, 2001.
Revolutionary state formation entails the process of intense and violent struggle between an indigenous population and a colonial power, or between factions or sub-state entities leading to the establishment of one or more states (Maoz). The duration of the struggle and violence is typically short in duration and a result of the pressures felt from both domestic and international pressures. At the beginning of the formation of a new state of regime, acceptance is not guaranteed into the club of nations. The relevance of this fact is that the newly established regime needs to have solid grounds for validation and self-autonomy, without it is left unstable and liable to be brought down by old neighboring states. During the period of instability following the formation of a new regime, there is the additional internal threat which means that those who were in power before will be looking for the first opportunity to return to the status qou (Maoz). An additional aspect of the revolutionary state fo...
Turkish-Syrian relations have almost always been soured and hostile in some fashion, dating back as early as the 1500’s. With a perpetual tit-for-tat policy and retaliation method that has been in effect between the two nations, it wasn’t until around 2003 or so in which Turkish relations to Syria had turned mostly friendly in response to the United States’ invasion of Iraq and Assad growing concerned over Syria being invaded as well. To gain more allies and help deter against this, Assad looked to Turkey for support, who was not only happy to better their ties with Syria, but was also in strong disagreement with the United States’ decision to invade Iraq as well. That is until the last five years in which the acting government in Syria has become increasingly more violent and hostile to it’s own people; essentially forcing the Turkish government to reject the growing friendly ties in the name of democracy. The geographic placement of Turkey in relation to the Middle-East and Europe, and particularly Syria, puts the country as a whole in a precarious situation from multiple powerful influences, such as NATO, the EU as well as the UN, and on the inverse, major Islamic figures and traditions held in the region. Because of this, Turkish history has been shaped and formed from the two major influences pulling on the country in very contrasting ways: The west, and the benefits of modernity and non-secularism in the state, and the East, and the fundamental religious beliefs of many who reside there who do not wish to break tradition or stray from their fundamental beliefs. Today is no different, although Turkey is increasingly leaning to the western state of mind and politics as a result of the shaky rela...
"Oil Imports and Exports - Energy Explained, Your Guide To Understanding Energy." Web. 26 May 2011. .
Ever the shrewd leader, Hussein realized that the primary way to ensure stability was to increase the standard of living. The fi...
Rivkin, David B., Jr., and Lee A. Casey. "The New Iraqi Constitution." The Heritage Foundation. The Heritage Foundation, 16 Sept. 2005. Web. 20 Mar. 2014.
Tadesse, Debay. Post-independence South Sudan: the challenges ahead. ISPI-ISTITUTO PER GU STUDI DI POLITICA INTERNAZIONALE. February 2012.no.46.
Based on the constructivist view, the Civil War in Syria is initiated by the identity conflict between two groups which are the Assad’s regime and the rebel. Assad’s regime originates from minority Alawite, who made up 12 percent of the Syria population and also dominates most of the position in Syria government (citation). However, this identity conflict is not on religion based as the rebel’s side consists variation of group such as Sunni sect, Free Syrian Army (FSA) and other citizens. Besides, the Assad’s regimes as well consist of other society despite of the Alwite. Based on this condition, it is clearly portray that, even though a group is made up of multiple identities, they still can pursue t...
The first twenty-five years of Syrian independence was filled with extreme political instability and p...
Through Saddam Hussein’s tyrannical rule, ethnic and religious groups were subject to repression that ultimately involved foreign nations. One such group was the Kurdish people living in Iraq. Originally living in the nation of Kurdistan, a nation eliminated by the Allied Powers after World War I, over 20 million Kurds lived in parts of Iran, Iran, Turkey, and Syria (PBS). The Kurds were often used as pawns in Middle Eastern polit...
Binder, Leonard, eds. Ethinic Conflict and International Politics in the Middle East. Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida, 1999.
The abrupt end of decade long dominating regime in three weeks had created a political vacuum, that is evident in shifting coalitions and divisions among religious groups, ethnic groups, regional groups and even classes (Barnett et al. 2003, 25). US did not realize, moreover, the depth of the hostility between Kurds and Arabs, Sunnis and Shiites, and the members of different tribes and local religious groups. Furthermore, to deal with destruction in Iraq new plan was decided by the US. The plan was to pull out all troops and hand over the responsi...
11, 12) ?Conflicted Feelings About the Capture of Saddam? (2003). Online at: <http://www.commondreams.org/views03/1223-08.htm>, consulted on March 30th, 2004.
Mail and Guardian (2013)Nigeria’s dangote uses $3.3bn loan to build Africa’s biggest oil refinery .6:23.Available at: http://mg.co.za/article/2013-09-05-dangote-33bn-refinery-to-turn-nigeria-into-oil-exporter [Accessed: 5 September 2013]