Key issues that I think bare watching:
- Arab Spring emboldens Kurdish ambition for nationalism (now or never view)
- The various Kurdish parties will likely struggle with each other for power creating opportunities for exploitation by state actors in the region.
- Turkey making direct deals for oil with Kurds without going through Baghdad, which infuriates Baghdad.
- Kurdish peshmerga preventing the Iraqi Army from sealing the Syrian-Iraqi border.
- Maliki is pro-Assad, while Barzani is pro-resistance and is offering support to the resistance from Iraq. Where does Iran stand on this? What actions will they take?
- PKK is increasing it level of activity in Turkey, while KDP and Turkey appear to be reaching an agreement, yet reports of the KDP and PKK making a secret deal.
- Same as it has been for years, the Kurds will be a player, but they will be leveraged by other non-state actors, Turkey, Iraq, Syria, Iran, Israel, and probably the U.S.. Without unity how much power will the Kurds ultimately have?
http://www.turkishweekly.net/news/14...-oil-deal.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012...maliki-barzani
Originally Posted by Bill Moore
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