The Kurds in Iraq could not make a go at independence because they were too few. Now Syria is coming unglued and there are more Kurds in northern Syria. If the Kurds pull out of ramshackle Iraq and Mad-Max Syria they might just have a chance. A Kurdish state might cause trouble in northwestern Iran and southeastern Turkey (where most of the Kurds are). Saladin was a Kurd.
The Kurds have been taking full advantage of the situation. They have taken over most of Northern Syria, and Turkey is going crazy. It was something they didn't expect when Turkey began causing the trouble in Syria. Erdogan & Devotoglu assumed it was their opportunity to expand into Syria, and thought Nato would establish an area in Syria for the refugees they had invited in. It all backfired though when Russia and China opposed any involvement in Syria at the Security Council. Assad was so furious with the bloodshed Turkey had caused, that he handed Northern Syria to the Kurds. The Kurds have the oil wealth in Northern Iraq and are playing their cards brilliantly. The KLA terrorists are fully supported by Iran, and the rest of the Kurds get along with Israel and also with the Christians in Syria. The only thing they have to be fearful of in Syria is the Turkish army, which is very powerful, but they wouldn't do anything without a go ahead from the U.S. Turkey has to be watched though, because they make a habit shooting their own people in order to say they were attacked. That way they would get Natos support. The Patriots were given to them probably to pacify them, and show that they have the protection of Nato. Protection from what though, surely Assad is not in any position to attack them? It seems like all a big show on Nato's part. There is warfare going on in the Kurdish areas of Turkey, so they have every reason to be paranoid about the Kurds. I believe that the West wants an oil pipe line extending from Northern Iraq to the Mediterrean through Syria, and wants it all to belong to the Kurds. There was a report that Turkey would break up by 2030, but I think it's going to be way, way sooner than that...especially with the games they are playing, not just with Syria, but with the Balkans and the Aegean as well.
this is myth , what Turkey needs less of all its - more Kurds ,the best Turkish generals are in prison , PKK is stronger then ever . whats interesting is here that Assyrians can get a real chance (within Kurdistan)
Sorry, I should have said the PKK. The KLA were the Albanian terrorists in Kosovo. I gather my information from what I read in the Turkish, Russian and Greek newspapers, as well as other ones. We get so little from our main stream media. Did you know that the Israeli and Greek airforce started war games today outside of Crete and in the Aegean? Last month there were games with Israel over the whole of Greece and the Aegean. The Israeli force was the largest foreign force ever to be allowed over Greek territory. All this of course is a warning to Turkey, as are the Russian war ships that have been making calls at the Greek ports. The PKK in the Eastern part of Turkey had raised its flag in one or two towns. The Turkish army moved into the area and closed it off to all the news medias. The fighting has stopped because of the winter, but there is some sort of terrorist attack everyday. What I have noticed is the spin in Turkish papers such as Zaman, and how different it is from what the Turks who oppose the Erdogan government say. Frankly I don't believe the Turkish goverment. They lied when they said their plane was shot down over international waters, and frankly I think it was a set up because the pilots were Kurds. They also lied about the Syrian plane carrying arms when it was electronic equipment, (which they stole), but Russia has now calmed down about it, what with the Turks being forced to buy oil from them. Yesterday, in a Middle Eastern newspaper a Turkish official said that Serbian and Greek intelligence were found in 1998 giving arms to the Kurds, which is another Turkish lie, and Hillary Clinton said that Turkey had asked to have the radar or what not installed in the Eastern part of the country. Yet they keep on saying that they were asked by Nato to install it. Another lie the Turkish government keeps repeating is how respected and loved they are in that part of the world, and yet yesterday I read in a Middle Eastern paper that Erdogan and Devotoglu are beginning to realize that they are not trusted or liked, and have nothing in common with the Arab world, so you figure?
i see the redline in your story but i think the biggest treat for Turkey is Turkey its self. macho politic , they are could not share power and it can lead to state collapse
With the impending collapse of Syria, Kurds have a chance at an autonomous region with access to the sea....Latakia
I think the U.S. originally wanted the North to remain part of Iraq. Hillary did complain about Turkey meddling in Iraq and creating friction between the Kurds there and Baghdad. I think the U.S. position is changing now since Baghdad is very close to Iran. Many of the American oil firms have closed shop there and have moved north. I think the plan is to have the oil go through Syria to the Mediterrean, but Turkey doesn't know that. They have come to their own agreement with the Kurds in Iraq, thinking the pipe line will go through Turkey. Ha! That's what they think. If they had any brains, they would have kept their relationship up with Israel. Since they haven't, and the Kurds have a close relationship with Israel, Turkey can and should expect the worse.
Iraq has turned into an Asymmetrical Republic. Kirkuk is 147 miles North of Baghdad and for years conflicting claims of Kurds, Turkmen & Arabs created instability. Following the U.S. invasion, the Kurds gained control over Kirkuk and thus the Northern Oil resources. In Northern Iraq, the Kurds are permitted to raise their own Army & the Kurdish Regional Government has significant autonomy away from Baghdad. Simply, Baghdad has little to no influence on its Northern region. And that's evident in the Iraqi Parliament Elections, only 12,517 votes came from Kirkuk which has a population of roughly 850,000. The Iranians & Turks fear similar autonomy could be gleaned by the Syrian Kurds in the power vacuum post Assad. For this reason, the Turks began shelling across the border- attempting to mitigate a possible Kurdish Independence movement again emerging in Eastern Turkey. The Kurds are the largest Ethnic Group without a country. In Northern Iraq, the U.S. Coalition found a strong alliance with the Kurds in the invasion of Iraq. Virtually no American deaths were reported near Kirkuk. We armed the Kurds to an extent and following Saddam's regime being toppled- the Northern Iraqi Kurds and Turks came to blows. The Hood Incident following the invasion succinctly portrays both Turkey's fear and insecurities with Kurdish Autonomy. So is it the opportunity? Absolutely. The issue is the lack of a cohesive military and specifically Air Power will limit their ability to make progress. The Turks will shell the Kurds in Northern Syria as they fear the connection of a broader Kurdistan expanding into Turkey's Eastern Provinces.
Latakia is a bit out of what has been considered the range of the Kurds. An independent Kurdestan made from the shards and fragments of Syria and Syria is an existential threat to turkey and a temptation for Kurds in Iran. The US is out of Iraq so the lid is off that pressure cooker. Iraq, Syria, Jordan,and Palestine were simply post-colonial constructs. Modern Turkey is the child of 1920s damage control. Maybe the real order is beginning to assert itself.
