Longing for independence: The Kurdish 'struggle' in Iraq

Report by Ahmad Abdallah, English adaptation by Karine Keuchkerian

In this region, located northwest of Iran, southeast of Turkey, north of Iraq, and north of Syria, there is a Kurdish ethnic group, consisting of 45 million people. They are united by culture, language, and ethnicity.

In Iraq, Kurds represent between 15 to 20 percent of the population. They have long sought to build an independent state since the mandate period when they rose against British rule. 

This continued until 1946 when Mustafa Barzani established the Kurdistan Democratic Party as a political means for independence in the Iraqi Kurdistan region.

After the 1958 revolution, the new constitution recognized Kurdish nationalism. 

However, the central government rejected Barzani's plan for self-governance, leading his party to declare armed fighting in 1961. 

In 1970, the government offered an agreement to the Kurds to end the fighting and grant them autonomous rule. However, the agreement "tumbled," and fighting resumed in 1974.

At that time, the conflict centered around Kirkuk, one of the biggest oilfields in the Middle East. 

The Iraqi government worked to settle Arabs in Kirkuk to change the demographic structure and forcibly resettled Kurds in other areas.

Kirkuk remained a "sacred symbol" for Kurds in their struggle against the Iraqi government until the early 1990s when a widespread uprising erupted in Iraq as a whole after the First Gulf War.

Due to the severity of the uprising's suppression, the United States and its allies imposed a no-fly zone over northern Iraq, allowing Kurds to enjoy self-rule.

This strengthened direct relations between Erbil and Washington, as well as indirectly with Washington's allies like Tel Aviv, without any official declaration.

The most significant evidence of this was the recent targeting by Iran of Mossad centers in the Kurdish region. Kurdish attempts for independence did not cease, the latest being the 2017 referendum, which was opposed by all countries but welcomed by Tel Aviv.

Armed Kurdish groups remained in confrontation with the Iraqi government, particularly in Kirkuk, which holds the largest Iraqi oil fields, constituting one-third of the oil exported by the Kurdistan Region and its budget.

Today, the relationship between the governments of Erbil and Baghdad is not without tension, mainly concerning Kirkuk, salaries, or oil sales, but it is stable and free from significant tension. 

Kurdish Abdul Latif Rashid, supported by the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, holds the presidency of Iraq, and Kurds hold several key ministries in the central Iraqi government, such as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 

Will the calm remain? Or will it collapse amid major strategic differences in the region?