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Col. (ret.) Dr. Jacques Neriah, August 15, 2013 Vol. 13, No. 23 August 15, 2013
After largely sitting on the sidelines of the Syrian revolution, political groups from Syrias Kurdish minority have moved decisively to claim control of Kurdish-populated areas. For the first time in modern Syrian Kurdish history, Kurds have created an exclusively Kurdishcontrolled enclave. Kurdish spokesmen have indicated that they are planning to form a provisional Kurdish government due to the absence of any central authority. The Kurds have faced resistance to their new gains from the jihadist groups Jabhat al-Nusra and the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant. For the first time since the start of the Syrian civil war, the president of Iraqi Kurdistan, Massoud Barzani, threatened to intervene on behalf of Syrian Kurds. Immediately after Barzanis statement , Iranian Kurds also announced that they were ready for battle. A Greater Kurdistan is no longer a remote possibility. This reality poses challenges for all of the states with large Kurdish populations: Turkey, Iraq, Syria, and Iran.
Kurdistan is on the verge of becoming the new regional flashpoint in the Middle East. The Kurdish people have long sought autonomy, and the Syrian civil war has created new opportunities for them to achieve their goal.
In July 2013, the jihadists carried out a series of attacks on Kurdish towns. They killed a respected Kurdish leader, Issa Hassou, with a car bomb.2 Kurdish forces reacted swiftly, and after some major battles with the jihadists, regained lost territory and expanded their control to new areas.
Competing Interests
Kurdistan is a potential land bridge for many of the conflicts in the Middle East. It provides a ground route for Iraqi Kurdistan to supply the Syrian Kurds as they seek greater autonomy from Damascus. Iran, too, is seeking a corridor to supply its Syrian surrogates as well as Hizbullah in Lebanon. Whichever power can control the tri-border area between Iraq, Syria, and Turkey will be able to control Kurdistans supply corridors. With all these competing interests in mind, it is easy to see why the fate of Kurdistan will help shape the future of the Middle East. * * Notes 1. Jacques Neriah, The Future of Kurdistan: Between Turkey, the Iraq War, and the Syrian Revolt (Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, August 2012), http://jcpa.org/article/the-future-of-kirdistanbetween-turkey-the-iraq-war-and-the-syrian-revolt/ 2. AlArabiya.net, July 31, 2013. 3. Iraqi Kurd Leader Massoud Barzani Issues Syria Warning, BBC, August 10, 2013, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-23650894 4. AlArabiya.net, August 5, 2013. 5. AlArabiya.net, August 6, 2013. 6. The Future of Kurdistan. 7. Reuters, August 9, 2013. *