An Independent Kurdistan? (1 Viewer)

[glumpy]

They have been preparing for generations and with the current jihad the time is now.

I didn't want to hijack, but from the Iraqi thread:

Yeah me too.

But also be aware that there are Kurds in Turkey, once there's an independent Kurdistan there will be uprisings there. So that's looming trouble for Turkey.

Yeah the Turks won't be joining us in rooting for the Kurds. Not for one minute.

I think the opposite is true: Turkey may welcome the relative stability of a secure Kurdish buffer given the conflagration in Iraq. The Kurds are likely the regional force most capable of withstanding ISIS.

NBC News analysis: http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/iraq-turmoil/sunnis-shiites-battle-are-iraqs-kurds-preparing-declare-independence-n136236

With Sunni militants in Baghdad's suburbs and Iraq's central government teetering, the seizure of the northern city of Kirkuk by Kurdish forces last week received little attention. But experts say it may signal the birth of a new, oil-rich country, and that Iraq's Kurds may be pursuing outright independence with encouragement from an ancient enemy -- Turkey.

It's been overshadowed by Iraqi events, but the seizure of Kirkuk is huge: http://online.wsj.com/articles/kurds-takeover-of-strategic-city-strengthens-their-hand-1403238922?tesla=y&mg=reno64-wsj&url=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304489104579635381227624974.html

KIRKUK, Iraq—As thousands of Iraqi soldiers fled this oil-rich province in the face of advancing Sunni jihadists last week, the region's Kurdish Gov. Nejmaldin Karim met behind blast walls with his security chiefs.

Their decision: to order Kurdish forces, the Peshmerga, to advance from nearby cities, occupy Iraqi bases and secure the Kirkuk oil field.


In the days since the extremist Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham, or ISIS, seized swaths of Iraqi territory, the implications of their startling advance is only starting to come into focus. But one thing is clear: The Kirkuk operation brings the Kurds, who make up 20% of Iraq's population, closer than ever to their dream of an independent state.

full article wsj.com

Despite the fact that we've virtually left them to their own devices forever, it seems historically that the Kurds have always been the closest to an ally for us in the Mesopotamian region. Our formal recognition is long overdue, and certainly should have been given when we went after Saddam. They are proving to be the only other buffer strong enough to withstand the constant regional religious upheaval.

 

[cstu]

Definitely rooting for the Kurds. As an oasis of reasonableness in a desert of extremism.

 

[NCCommish]

Yes Turkey has certainly taken a new tact recently.

 

[NCCommish]

The Kurds certainly seem like our best bet. We screwed them hard after Gulf War 1. Amazed they will even talk to us.

 

[Koya]

The Kurds certainly seem like our best bet. We screwed them hard after Gulf War 1. Amazed they will even talk to us.

Best interests outweigh past grievances for reasonable people and nations.

 

[jamny]

Reference map...although from 1992