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Inspired by events in Egypt, demonstrators in Sulaymaniyah -- northeast Iraqi Kurdistan -- recently renamed the city's central square Liberation, or Azadi, Square.
Whereas in the rest of Iraq demonstrators called for a variety of demands, in Kurdistan most of protesters were young and voiced their discontent against Kurdistan's traditional leadership. The future of these leaders now depends on their ability to regain legitimacy with these youth.
The protests served as a wake-up call for the region's two-party leadership: the Kurdistan Democratic Party, or KDP, led by Massoud Barzani, and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, or PUK, led by Jalal Talabani. Both parties have ruled Kurdistan since the establishment of a regional government in 1992.
The KDP and the PUK built their legitimacy on the struggle against Saddam Hussein's regime and the creation of the Kurdistan region. But Kurdistanis between the ages of 15 and 30 -- approximately 40% of the population -- grew up in an already semi-autonomous Kurdistan. Most of them only heard about the struggle against the former regime from their parents and grandparents.
They did, however, witness the armed struggle for power between the KDP and the PUK from 1994 to 1997, and have lived under two-party rule that dominates political representation, resource management and access to employment. They have little or no contact with the rest of Iraq, attend Kurdish universities, speak Kurdish better than Arabic -- and hold Irbil politically accountable before Baghdad.
In the eyes of this youth, the KDP and PUK have spent the past 20 years prioritizing parochial interests over the national good.
Until the protests started, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) ministries remained split between the two parties -- with no access for others -- and little collaboration has existed between them. Peshmerga forces, long the symbol of national resistance to Hussein's regime, are also divided into two uncooperative branches, one loyal to the KDP and the other to the PUK.
Furthermore, although Kurdistan enjoys better security than the rest of Iraq and has seen investments pour in since 2003, between 35% and 45% of Kurdish youth remain unemployed or underemployed. Political affiliation often regulates advancement.
Demonstrations started in February, but they gave voice to a discontent that was simmering in Kurdistan long before the wave of mobilization engulfed the Middle East region. They revealed the increasing disaffection toward a leadership that has anchored its legitimacy to past achievements and has failed to fulfill the aspirations of its youth. Already in 2009, regional elections saw a third party, Gorran, or "The Movement for Change," making significant gains at the expense of the PUK in particular.
Although demonstrations have mainly been limited to Sulaymaniyah, the entire Kurdish political scene has been shaken.
KRG leaders are growing vulnerable, and last month attempted to stem the flow of protests. Alongside promises of democratic reform, Cabinet reshuffling, and establishment of anti-corruption commissions, they drastically restricted demonstrations, deployed their security forces and clamped down on protesters.
Both the KDP and the PUK now find themselves on the same side of a power struggle, as their survival depends on one another in the face of mounting opposition. The opposition parties -- Gorran, the Islamic Group of Kurdistan and the Kurdistan Islamic Union -- have also sought to present a united front. Since the earliest protests, they have called for the resignation of the government and the implementation of reforms, boycotting the parliamentary sessions in an attempt to gain legitimacy as advocates of the demonstrators' demands.
If negotiations fail, both the incumbent leaders and the opposition parties could polarize in two blocs, eager either to reassert or gain support from the people.
In the run-up to September's provincial elections, the KDP and the PUK are likely to continue employing a mix of repressive measures and promises of reform as they attempt to contain protests. They may try to recast themselves as united defenders of the Kurdish national interest in Iraq, through further political or military maneuvers in Kirkuk on the disputed border between Kurdistan and the rest of Iraq. Should they succeed in making gains there, they could reinstate some legitimacy as Kurdistan's flag bearers.
Is it any surprise that years of being Turkey's bitch have finally become unpopular? They want a separate country, not Iraq, and their goals want a big slice of Turkey too.
Tyranny always falls, the Turkish dictatorship that calls itself a democracy can't keep the Kurds down forever, even by baring Kurds from elections, putting political dissidents in jail and killing people that oppose the govt.Is it any surprise that years of being Turkey's bitch have finally become unpopular? They want a separate country, not Iraq, and their goals want a big slice of Turkey too.
I support the Kurds, they are a good people and I hope they get their own country.
Tyranny always falls, the Turkish dictatorship that calls itself a democracy can't keep the Kurds down forever, even by baring Kurds from elections, putting political dissidents in jail and killing people that oppose the govt.Is it any surprise that years of being Turkey's bitch have finally become unpopular? They want a separate country, not Iraq, and their goals want a big slice of Turkey too.
I support the Kurds, they are a good people and I hope they get their own country.
If they held a plebiscite in Kurdish majority regions they would vote to be part of Kurdistan not Turkey.
A source inside the border patrol in the northern Kurdish provinces of Iraq said Iranian forces crossed the border during the weekend in pursuit of members of the Party for Free Life in Kurdistan, or PJAK. "The Iranian force is still stationed at the same positions it penetrated into on Sunday, following clashes between both sides," the source told the Voices of Iraqi news agency.
Turkey has been locked in battle with militants from the separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, since 1984. Iran has fought PKK counterparts with PJAK along its border with Turkey and Iraq. The border skirmish comes as U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told reporters that the remaining U.S. forces in Iraq would confront Iran in its alleged support of Shiite militias operating southern Iraq.
"I think the key right now is to go after them in Iraq and do what we can to prevent those weapons coming into Iraq and go after those groups that would make use of those weapons," he said. "That's what the principal focus has to be on."
Read more: Iranian forces cross Iraqi border - UPI.com
Is it any surprise that years of being Turkey's bitch have finally become unpopular? They want a separate country, not Iraq, and their goals want a big slice of Turkey too.
Tyranny always falls, the Turkish dictatorship that calls itself a democracy can't keep the Kurds down forever, even by baring Kurds from elections, putting political dissidents in jail and killing people that oppose the govt.Is it any surprise that years of being Turkey's bitch have finally become unpopular? They want a separate country, not Iraq, and their goals want a big slice of Turkey too.
I support the Kurds, they are a good people and I hope they get their own country.
If they held a plebiscite in Kurdish majority regions they would vote to be part of Kurdistan not Turkey.
Tyranny always falls, the Turkish dictatorship that calls itself a democracy can't keep the Kurds down forever, even by baring Kurds from elections, putting political dissidents in jail and killing people that oppose the govt.I support the Kurds, they are a good people and I hope they get their own country.
If they held a plebiscite in Kurdish majority regions they would vote to be part of Kurdistan not Turkey.
In the next war I fear they will do to the Kurds what they did to the Armenians and that war does come.
In the next war, there will be some serious actions on the Kurds. I know America is helping them to create their independent state in the next upcoming war. America is counting on the Kurds, but they need to be supporting them fully, not clandestinely.
Iran is not clandestine, but America is?
That's messed up.
Is it any surprise that years of being Turkey's bitch have finally become unpopular? They want a separate country, not Iraq, and their goals want a big slice of Turkey too.
Kurds are another branch of Sunni Muslim. I don't know they treat their women any better than the rest of Iraq. Republicans helped draft the Iraqi constitution which includes Article II which says all legislation is based on Islam.
Regardless of religious affiliation, I just don't like seeing women mistreated.
Is it any surprise that years of being Turkey's bitch have finally become unpopular? They want a separate country, not Iraq, and their goals want a big slice of Turkey too.
They want a piece of Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria. Good luck to them!
They want a piece of Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria. Good luck to them!
www2.lse.ac.uk/IDEAS/publications/reports/pdf/SR007/iraq.pdfTurkey dominates the economy of the KRG region, where an estimated 80 percent of goods sold are imported from Turkey.
Fifty-five percent of the foreign companies registered in the KRG region are Turkish.
They want a piece of Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria. Good luck to them!
First of all N.Iraq is land-locked and has no fundament (economy) to be an independent state. Apart from all other calculations.
There are much bigger things at play, and a nation-state called Kurdistan is not on the agenda of the region.
www2.lse.ac.uk/IDEAS/publications/reports/pdf/SR007/iraq.pdfTurkey dominates the economy of the KRG region, where an estimated 80 percent of goods sold are imported from Turkey.
Fifty-five percent of the foreign companies registered in the KRG region are Turkish.
The NYTimes rightfully calls the relative prosperity in N.Iraq Turkish-bred
Turkish-Bred Prosperity Makes War Less Likely in Iraqi Kurdistan - NYTimes.com
Turkey Flexes Economic, Political Muscle In Iraq : NPR
So, before debating about anyone getting anything from Turkey you should look at the facts and see, that we own them already at their fundament (economy).
If a welfare state shit hole like Yemen can have their own country, why not the Kurds? besides there is oil in Northern Iraq and the Kurds already have their own airport, government, language and flag, why can they not be their own country, despite the fact that you hate them?
If a welfare state shit hole like Yemen can have their own country, why not the Kurds? besides there is oil in Northern Iraq and the Kurds already have their own airport, government, language and flag, why can they not be their own country, despite the fact that you hate them?
Dude, you are leading ghost debates totally disconnected from the realities on the ground. Off course, as is standard with you, there will come a "I visited those regions twice."
Ghost debates? this coming from someone whose posts are 99% spam.
