In contrast to their history of rebellion and hostility to the Iraqi state since its creation in the 1920s, since the removal of Saddam's regime the Iraqi Kurds have been involved in 'rebuilding' the country. Determining the future of the disputed areas of northern Iraq is the main reason behind this Kurdish involvement and it is one of the two Kurdish objectives in Iraq. The other is the quest to establish an independent state of Kurdistan. The relations between the two objectives are particularly complicated, as are the Iraqi and Kurdish issues. On the one hand it is difficult to imagine that the Kurds will declare an independent state without Kirkuk, or if they do so it is unclear how that state could be economically viable. On the other hand, it is hard for the Kurds to convince others to help solve the sensitive issue of Kirkuk if they assert their claim for independence. In other words, control of Kirkuk and independence are inseparable elements of the Kurdish strategy, but the former will guarantee the success of a Kurdish state whereas asserting independence would jeopardise the control of Kirkuk if it was the Kurds declared strategy in the present situation.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/284071 |
| Date | January 2007 |
| Creators | Rafaat, Aram |
| Source Sets | Australiasian Digital Theses Program |
| Language | EN-AUS |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | Copyright Aram Rafaat 2007 |
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