Abstract
On 20 November 2017, Iraqi Supreme Court has declared illegal the Iraqi Kurdistan referendum. This seems to put an end to the disagreement between Baghdad and Erbil and the long struggle of Iraqi Kurds to independence. The Kurdish issue has long haunted the Middle East, and the efforts of the Kurds to have a nation of their own have had a profound impact on the political landscape of the Middle East region. On September 25, 2017, the Iraqi Kurdish Autonomous Region held a referendum to decide whether to be independent or not. The results were opposed by the international community, especially by the neighboring countries of Iraq. This is mainly due to the fear of spillover effects on their own populations and the impact on the Middle East. This paper analyzes the causes and the consequences of the independence referendum on Iraqi Kurdish Autonomous Region relations with Iraq’s central government, geopolitics in the Middle East and anti-terrorism war.
Highlights
The Kurdish issue mainly refers to the Kurdish people’s aspiration for independence or autonomy and has a long past in the Middle East
Kurdistan’s referendum for independence? Does the referendum mean that the Iraqi Kurds will be able to achieve their dream of independent statehood? What is the reaction of the international community? What is the impact of such referendum on Iraqi Kurdistan, Iraq's domestic politics, the geopolitical landscape of the Middle East and the international War on terrorism? This article tries to analyze briefly these questions
On 19th June 2017, the head of Iraqi Kurdish Autonomous Region's Department of Foreign Relations, Falah Mustafa Bakir declared that Iraqi Kurds, in recent years, have been dissatisfied with the inefficiency of their cooperation with the regime of Baghdad, prompting their decision to separate
Summary
The Kurdish issue mainly refers to the Kurdish people’s aspiration for independence or autonomy and has a long past in the Middle East. The United States, Turkey, and other countries made declarations that they would not acknowledge the referendum’s results; Iraqi Kurdistan's referendum independence has become a widely debated topic within the international community and the Middle East region. What is the impact of such referendum on Iraqi Kurdistan, Iraq's domestic politics, the geopolitical landscape of the Middle East and the international War on terrorism? As for the referendum’s objective, Masoud Barzani, the President of Iraqi Kurdistan, said that the results would not lead to an immediate declaration of independence but should lay the basis for negotiations 5 From his statement, the direct motive behind Iraqi Kurdistan’s referendum is not the quest for independence, but the use of the spectrum of independence as a bargaining chip to get better concrete gains, laying a solid foundation for the later independent nation 6. The Iraqi Kurdistan chooses to hold the independence referendum at that moment, because of historical reasons and realistic opportunities
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