How Are The Kurds Impacted By Political Agreements

41 It is not clear what lies behind the current rhetoric of the KRG (or KDP) on a referendum and independence. With regard to the future place of the region in Iraq or outside Iraq, much will depend on the outcome of the ongoing struggle for Mosul. Even if, as it seems increasingly likely that ISIS will eventually be dissolved, it is unlikely that a lasting political solution to long-standing conflicts will be found in the near future. The concessions made by the KDP, the KRG and/or the Barzanis, if they did, either to the Baghdad administration or to the Obama administration in exchange for membership in the anti-IS coalition, are not clear; But according to Massoud Barzani, this includes the promise that the disputed territories retaken by the Kurdish Peshmerga will remain linked to the Kurdistan region. If this is the case, it means that the fate of these territories will not be decided by referendum, As stipulated in the 2005 Constitution, still in the form of consultation with the local population, considered less “Kurdish” and treated accordingly by the regional administration.38 Borzou Daragahi, “The Turks respond to the military offensive in Syria with a mixture of fear and pride: `War is an attempt to divide the opposition`, The Independent, 9 October 2019, www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/turkey-syria-invasion-war-politically-divisive-army-troops-erdogan-trump-a9149546.html. Kurdish nationalism (Kurdayet, کوردایەتی) [6] is a nationalist political movement that asserts that the Kurds are a nation and advocates for the creation of a state in Kurdistan, in contrast to the various nationalisms (Turkish, Arab, Iranian, Iraqi and Syrian) of the states of which it is a part. Shane Bauer, “I Went to Syria and Met the People Trump Just Gave Turkey Permission to Kill,” Mother Jones, October 8, 2019, www.motherjones.com/politics/2019/10/syria-kurds/. According to a new report by the RAND Corporation, if the Kurdish region of northern Iraq became an independent nation, this measure would create significant political and economic problems for neighbouring countries, Turkey and Iran, as well as for the Iraqi central government. The KNC (also known as ENKS) is a coalition of Kurdish political parties and movements in Syria. Founded in 2011 in Erbil, Iraq, the organization is closely linked to the Barzani family and the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) in Iraq26. She advocated for the use of Iraqi Peshmerga in the fight against Daesh and encouraged the creation of a federation within a democratic Syria27 The KNC rejects the PYD because of its links with the PKK and the repression of opposition parties.

In the months leading up to the 2017 elections, a wave of new arrests targeted “illegal” and unauthorized political parties, leading to the closure of almost all opposition party offices42 The observer in northern Syria said that 44 headquarters and organization offices were closed in just three days.43 In May 2017, 44 In September 2017, Asayish also arrested several members of the knc and members of the organising committee for publicly celebrating the KRG independence referendum.45 Mohammed Abdulssattar Ibrahim and Mateo Nelson, “The Kurdish political body gains more independence in the opposition negotiating committee, despite being classified by Operation Afrin,” Syria Direct July 17, 2018, syriadirect.org/news/kurdish-political-body-gains-increased-independence-in-opposition%E2%80%99s-negotiating-committee-despite-rankling-over-afrin-operation/.