The Kurdish Advantage

[clausewitz]

There has been some talk in the international news about Iranian efforts to ally with Kurdish citizens in northern Iraq and Syria.

Let's assume that Western forces make a move towards either Iran and Syria, and conflict breaks out through the region. Would Iran be able to use the Kurds to disrupt supply chains within souther Turkey?

I don't think that there is enough cohesive control to effectively direct missions into Turkish territory - but having ethnic allies could be important if Iran wanted to advance West (assuming they have the cloud of Russian protection).

Thoughts?

 

[STURM]

All the countries that have Kurdish populations - Syria, Iran, Iraq and Turkey - have at various times attempted to win the Kurds over or to seek some kind of political accomodation with them. The Kurds, having at various times been burnt and treated harshly by all these countries, will not be so quick to take sides against another country and be used as pawns. In the past, Israel also provided some aid to the Kurds in Iraq.

 

[Twain]

There has been some talk in the international news about Iranian efforts to ally with Kurdish citizens in northern Iraq and Syria.

Let's assume that Western forces make a move towards either Iran and Syria, and conflict breaks out through the region. Would Iran be able to use the Kurds to disrupt supply chains within souther Turkey?

I don't think that there is enough cohesive control to effectively direct missions into Turkish territory - but having ethnic allies could be important if Iran wanted to advance West (assuming they have the cloud of Russian protection).

Thoughts?

Iraqi Kurds are currently signing oil development deals with western oil companies so it is highly unlikely that they would jeopardize that by siding with Iran. If anything, there will be a push for another Kurdish autonomous region in Syria.

 

[My2Cents]

Iraqi Kurds are currently signing oil development deals with western oil companies so it is highly unlikely that they would jeopardize that by siding with Iran. If anything, there will be a push for another Kurdish autonomous region in Syria.

Turkey has threatened to invade Syria if the Kurds establish an autonomous region there. The same threat to the Iraqi Kurds is likely one of the main reasons the Kurds have not broken with the Iraqi central government.

 

[Twain]

Turkey has threatened to invade Syria if the Kurds establish an autonomous region there. The same threat to the Iraqi Kurds is likely one of the main reasons the Kurds have not broken with the Iraqi central government.

Officially the Kurdish region in Iraq is still part of Iraq, but only officially. Among other things, they are negotiating their own oil development contracts outside of any Iraqi government control or influence.

No doubt Turkey sees an autonomous Kurdish region in Syria as a threat but I also think this is a goal of the Kurds. An autonomous region is Syria would put two of the 4 pieces of a greater Kurdistan in place. I doubt that Turkey would launch a full scale invasion so much as they would raid into Syria and send in airstrikes. The whole Syrian mess is going to cause Turkey headaches for years. They may very well not get the outcome they are hoping for.

 

[ngatimozart]

The Kurdish when they come to France , they cry ( we are killed by Turkish , we are opressed, we want an independant state because we have our own culture and specificity) nearby the french autorities to give them political asylum , and when they have what they want , they open Kebab and sale Turkish food Lol let me laught .
I saw it several times here in France , I really think that their "fight" is fake , the are a toy between the ennemies of Turkey , enought . I had many turkish friends who are from the region of kurdistan , and they explain me that those " peace and love fighter" are in reality a mafia and terrorists , they don't represent kurdish .

You've done well mate. Been a member 2 hours made five posts and banned. This is not a forum for politics nor ethnic intolerance.

The Kurds do have a problem and in some ways one could argue that it is an Anglo-French created problem because of the way they divided the spoils of the Ottoman empire after World War One, creating states using artificial boundary lines drawn on a map. To whit, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Jordan and Palestine. I'm leaving out Arabia. All of this was done under the aegis of the League of Nations. This forming of nations does not appear to have taken into account ethnic boundaries, so the Kurds were overlooked and since then they have been fighting for their own homeland. That is a quick precis of the history done off the top of my head and it is a history that needs to be taken into account when discussing this issue.

 

[STURM]

James Barr covers the subject very well in his ''A Line In The Sand''.

A Line In The Sand, By James Barr - Reviews - Books - The Independent

It goes without saying that the local inhabitants weren't even consulted when the Sykes/Picot agreement was drawn up. Not only the Kurds but almost everyone else living in the region was affected.

 

[ngatimozart]

James Barr covers the subject very well in his ''A Line In The Sand''.

A Line In The Sand, By James Barr - Reviews - Books - The Independent

It goes without saying that the local inhabitants weren't even consulted when the Sykes/Picot agreement was drawn up. Not only the Kurds but almost everyone else living in the region was affected.

Thank you for that. That looks like a very interesting read so I'll put it on my need to read list. I couldn't remember Picot & Sykes name as a long time since I had done Middle East history. Did a bit last year on orientalism which was interesting.