The purpose of this study is to discuss the role of the religion and language, Islam Kurdish, in the process of Kurdish identity formation in Northern Iraq and to find out the most imperative factor/s in the existing identification of Kurdish identity by relying on the field research conducted in Erbil. The current discussions in the literature generally either emphasized the role of religion by focusing on the tariqat relations, and/or the role of feudal structure of the Kurdish society by focusing on the tribal relations, and/or the role of the culture by specifically focusing on the language as way of identification. In this study, the results of the field research conducted in Erbil are being compared to the arguments in the existing literature that explain the Kurdish identity in relation to the religion and the language. The study aims to discuss whether there is a shift from the religion, which had a significant role in history regarding the Kurdish identification, to the language, as a marker of modern Kurdish identity formation in Erbil. The research that conducted for this thesis has indicated that while the role of religion lost its historical role, the Kurdish language became the indicator of the identity of the Kurds in Erbil. In addition, this study will examine, in historical context, how the Kurdish language became the core issue of the Kurdish identity. The findings of the field research have been analyzed by using SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences) software program.

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This study is a historical analysis of Turkish-Iraqi relations from the Gulf War of 1990 up to the Iraqi elections of 2005 and the end of Transitional Administration Law (TAL) and prior to the permanent constitution. This study attempted to explain how Turkish-Iraqi relations entered into a new phase with the Gulf War of 1990. In this year, Iraq invaded Kuwait. Following this invasion, Iraq was attacked by coalition forces and at the end of this war, Iraq was nearly divided when a safe haven was created for the Kurds in northern Iraq. In this regard, this thesis paid attention to three factors that had significant impact on the foreign policy of Turkey towards Iraq: a de facto Kurdish state in northern part of this country and apprehension about the possibility of an independent Kurdish state, the existance of PKK in northern Iraq as a result of a power vacuum there and concerns about the future fate of Turkomans in Iraq and attempts to protect their rights. This study has demonstrated how Kurdish question has influenced Turkey&rsquo / s policy towards Iraq and restricted its options.