The quest for an independent Kurdistan enters a new phase
For many Iraqi Kurds, the time has come. Earlier this month, Masoud Barzani, president of the Kurdistan Regional Government in northern Iraq, said a nonbinding referendum on independence will be held Sept. 25. Officials say they want those living within the area administered by the KRG, people in long-disputed (and oil-rich) territories now occupied by Kurdish fighters, and even […]Ishaan Tharoor writes for The Washington Post:
For many Iraqi Kurds, the time has come. Earlier this month, Masoud Barzani, president of the Kurdistan Regional Government in northern Iraq, said a nonbinding referendum on independence will be held Sept. 25. Officials say they want those living within the area administered by the KRG, people in long-disputed (and oil-rich) territories now occupied by Kurdish fighters, and even members of the far-flung Kurdish diaspora to all cast ballots on the question of whether there should be an independent Kurdistan.
For Barzani and his allies, it's the culmination of decades of both political struggle and accommodation. For the central government in Baghdad, it's an unwelcome move that could further undermine their already fragile state. And for Iraq's neighbors and the United States, it only adds to their geopolitical headaches in a part of the world brimming with messy conflicts.
