10-16-2017, 10:27 PM
*** 17-Oct-17 World View -- Devastating defeat to Iraq in Kirkuk exposes major splits between Kurdish factions
This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
****
**** Kurds flee Kirkuk after Iraq army defeats them in complete rout
****
![[Image: g171016b.jpg]](http://Media.GenerationalDynamics.com/ww2010/g171016b.jpg)
Children greet Iraqi soldiers as they enter the southern outskirts of Kirkuk on Monday (Reuters)
People in Erbil, the capital city of the Kurdistan Regional Government
(KRG), were shocked on Monday at the speed with which their supposedly
legendary Peshmerga militias defending Kirkuk collapsed at the
approach of Iraqi army forces and Shia militias, in what is seen as a
total rout.
For several days, Kurdish forces were locked in an armed standoff
Iraqi government troops and allied Iranian-backed paramilitaries known
as Popular Mobilization Units (PMUs) on the outskirts of the city.
Kurdish leaders were using the strongest rhetoric, saying that Kirkuk
would be defended to the last Peshmerga, and that if Iraqi forces
attack, they would be soundly defeated. So there's a lot of anger
today among the Kurds about how this rout could have occurred so
quickly, within about 15 hours.
The Kurds took control of Kirkuk in 2014, at a time when the country
Iraq seemed to be falling apart, because the so-called Islamic State
(IS or ISIS or ISIL or Daesh) defeated the Iraqi army quickly and took
control of Mosul, making it ISIS headquarters in Iraq. ISIS also took
control of vast swaths of land, including many villages, but it was
Kurdish Peshmerga militias that prevented ISIS from taking control of
Kirkuk as well.
The Kurds might have been able to retain Kirkuk as part of the
regional KRG government, but Kurdish leaders decided to go further and
hold a non-binding referendum on September 25 on the question of
secession of an independent Kurdish state from Iraq. This referendum
went ahead despite almost universal international opposition, as the
United States, Turkey, Iran, and Iraq expressed concern that the
referendum would create unrealistic expectations and destabilize the
region. And that appears to be exactly what happened.
Once the referendum had passed, Iraq's prime minister Haider al-Abadi
said that he had no choice but to order military action to capture
Kirkuk and prevent a secession from taking place. The rapid advance
of the Iraqi forces resulted in quickly seizing control of the city's
airport, in addition to an oil field, the strategic K1 military base
and the Taza Khormatu district southeast of Kirkuk. A convoy of elite
Iraqi counter-terrorism unit forces took control of the governorate
building in central Kirkuk in the afternoon, meeting no resistance.
Iraqi forces also took control of the governor's office, which had
been left deserted.
Al-Abadi said in a statement:
<QUOTE>"It is my constitutional duty to work for the benefit
of the citizens, and to protect our national unity that came under
threat of fragmentation as a result of the referendum that was
organized by the Kurdish region.
The referendum came at a time where the country is fighting
against terrorism that has come in the form of ISIS. We tried to
urge (the Kurds) not to violate the constitution and to focus on
fighting ISIS, but they did not listen ... They chose their
personal interests over Iraq's interests."<END QUOTE>
By evening, there was an Iraqi victory parade in Kirkuk.
With the approach of the Iraqi forces, thousands of civilians fled
Kirkuk, and headed for Sulymaniyeh and Erbil in the Kurdish region.
However, other civilians were seen cheering on the Iraqi forces as
they entered Kirkuk's southern outskirts. That's because Kirkuk is a
multi-ethnic city, with a population of a million people, roughly 30%
Kurdish, 30% Arab, 30% Turkmen, and 10% Christian. Al Jazeera and Middle East Eye and Iraqi News
****
**** Devastating defeat to Iraq in Kirkuk exposes major splits between Kurdish factions
****
In an article that I wrote two weeks ago,
I compared three different independence movements that are
currently in the news -- -- in Catalonia from Spain, in the Anglophone
Southern Cameroons from Francophone Cameroon, and in Kurdistan from
Iraq. As I described, the Kurdistan case is substantially different
from the other two. In the other two, there is a resurgence of the
extremely vitriolic xenophobic attitudes that gave rise to previous
generational crisis wars, and civilians were targeted by government
forces. But we saw nothing like that between the Kurds and the Iraqis
in the case of the Kurdistan separatist movement in Iraq.
Monday's events modify that assessment. There was a military clash
between Iraqi and Kurdish forces, but it was quick and fizzled
quickly. There were no reported atrocities, rapes or mass slaughters
that are typical of clashes when vitriolic xenophobia is in play. In
particular, Monday's military clashes did not target civilians.
Instead, what emerged is a major split among the Kurds themselves.
There are two major factions in Kurdistan, the Kurdistan Democratic
Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), that were
formed in the decades following WW II. During Iraq's last
generational crisis war, the Iran/Iraq war of the 1980s, the KDP was
often aligned with Iran, and the KDP and the PUK fought each other.
The two parties have had several brief military clashes since then.
As political parties, the PUK and KDP are about evenly split in the
population. With Monday's overwhelming defeat in Kirkuk, we are
hearing vitriolic rhetoric in the form of the PUK and KDP accusing
each other of "betrayal," and calling each other "traitors."
On Monday, Masoud Barzani, president of the Kurdish Regional
Government (KRG) and KDP leader, posted a tweet accusing the PUK of
collaborating with Iran and with Iraq's Shia militias to defeat the
Kurds in Kirkuk.
It seems pretty likely that the hostility between the KDP and PUK is
going to grow following Monday's humiliating defeat in Kirkuk.
Al Jazeera and BBC
Related Articles
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Iraq, Kurdistan Regional Government, KRG,
Kirkuk, Sulymaniyeh, Peshmerga, Popular Mobilization Units, PMU,
Islamic State / of Iraq and Syria/Sham/the Levant, IS, ISIS, ISIL, Daesh,
Turkey, Iran, Masoud Barzani, Haider al-Abadi,
Kurdistan Democratic Party, KDP, Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, PUK
Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Contribute to Generational Dynamics via PayPal
John J. Xenakis
100 Memorial Drive Apt 8-13A
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com
Forum: http://www.gdxforum.com/forum
Subscribe to World View: http://generationaldynamics.com/subscribe
This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
- Kurds flee Kirkuk after Iraq army defeats them in complete rout
- Devastating defeat to Iraq in Kirkuk exposes major splits between Kurdish factions
****
**** Kurds flee Kirkuk after Iraq army defeats them in complete rout
****
Children greet Iraqi soldiers as they enter the southern outskirts of Kirkuk on Monday (Reuters)
People in Erbil, the capital city of the Kurdistan Regional Government
(KRG), were shocked on Monday at the speed with which their supposedly
legendary Peshmerga militias defending Kirkuk collapsed at the
approach of Iraqi army forces and Shia militias, in what is seen as a
total rout.
For several days, Kurdish forces were locked in an armed standoff
Iraqi government troops and allied Iranian-backed paramilitaries known
as Popular Mobilization Units (PMUs) on the outskirts of the city.
Kurdish leaders were using the strongest rhetoric, saying that Kirkuk
would be defended to the last Peshmerga, and that if Iraqi forces
attack, they would be soundly defeated. So there's a lot of anger
today among the Kurds about how this rout could have occurred so
quickly, within about 15 hours.
The Kurds took control of Kirkuk in 2014, at a time when the country
Iraq seemed to be falling apart, because the so-called Islamic State
(IS or ISIS or ISIL or Daesh) defeated the Iraqi army quickly and took
control of Mosul, making it ISIS headquarters in Iraq. ISIS also took
control of vast swaths of land, including many villages, but it was
Kurdish Peshmerga militias that prevented ISIS from taking control of
Kirkuk as well.
The Kurds might have been able to retain Kirkuk as part of the
regional KRG government, but Kurdish leaders decided to go further and
hold a non-binding referendum on September 25 on the question of
secession of an independent Kurdish state from Iraq. This referendum
went ahead despite almost universal international opposition, as the
United States, Turkey, Iran, and Iraq expressed concern that the
referendum would create unrealistic expectations and destabilize the
region. And that appears to be exactly what happened.
Once the referendum had passed, Iraq's prime minister Haider al-Abadi
said that he had no choice but to order military action to capture
Kirkuk and prevent a secession from taking place. The rapid advance
of the Iraqi forces resulted in quickly seizing control of the city's
airport, in addition to an oil field, the strategic K1 military base
and the Taza Khormatu district southeast of Kirkuk. A convoy of elite
Iraqi counter-terrorism unit forces took control of the governorate
building in central Kirkuk in the afternoon, meeting no resistance.
Iraqi forces also took control of the governor's office, which had
been left deserted.
Al-Abadi said in a statement:
<QUOTE>"It is my constitutional duty to work for the benefit
of the citizens, and to protect our national unity that came under
threat of fragmentation as a result of the referendum that was
organized by the Kurdish region.
The referendum came at a time where the country is fighting
against terrorism that has come in the form of ISIS. We tried to
urge (the Kurds) not to violate the constitution and to focus on
fighting ISIS, but they did not listen ... They chose their
personal interests over Iraq's interests."<END QUOTE>
By evening, there was an Iraqi victory parade in Kirkuk.
With the approach of the Iraqi forces, thousands of civilians fled
Kirkuk, and headed for Sulymaniyeh and Erbil in the Kurdish region.
However, other civilians were seen cheering on the Iraqi forces as
they entered Kirkuk's southern outskirts. That's because Kirkuk is a
multi-ethnic city, with a population of a million people, roughly 30%
Kurdish, 30% Arab, 30% Turkmen, and 10% Christian. Al Jazeera and Middle East Eye and Iraqi News
****
**** Devastating defeat to Iraq in Kirkuk exposes major splits between Kurdish factions
****
In an article that I wrote two weeks ago,
I compared three different independence movements that are
currently in the news -- -- in Catalonia from Spain, in the Anglophone
Southern Cameroons from Francophone Cameroon, and in Kurdistan from
Iraq. As I described, the Kurdistan case is substantially different
from the other two. In the other two, there is a resurgence of the
extremely vitriolic xenophobic attitudes that gave rise to previous
generational crisis wars, and civilians were targeted by government
forces. But we saw nothing like that between the Kurds and the Iraqis
in the case of the Kurdistan separatist movement in Iraq.
Monday's events modify that assessment. There was a military clash
between Iraqi and Kurdish forces, but it was quick and fizzled
quickly. There were no reported atrocities, rapes or mass slaughters
that are typical of clashes when vitriolic xenophobia is in play. In
particular, Monday's military clashes did not target civilians.
Instead, what emerged is a major split among the Kurds themselves.
There are two major factions in Kurdistan, the Kurdistan Democratic
Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), that were
formed in the decades following WW II. During Iraq's last
generational crisis war, the Iran/Iraq war of the 1980s, the KDP was
often aligned with Iran, and the KDP and the PUK fought each other.
The two parties have had several brief military clashes since then.
As political parties, the PUK and KDP are about evenly split in the
population. With Monday's overwhelming defeat in Kirkuk, we are
hearing vitriolic rhetoric in the form of the PUK and KDP accusing
each other of "betrayal," and calling each other "traitors."
On Monday, Masoud Barzani, president of the Kurdish Regional
Government (KRG) and KDP leader, posted a tweet accusing the PUK of
collaborating with Iran and with Iraq's Shia militias to defeat the
Kurds in Kirkuk.
It seems pretty likely that the hostility between the KDP and PUK is
going to grow following Monday's humiliating defeat in Kirkuk.
Al Jazeera and BBC
Related Articles
- Tensions between Turks and Iraqi Kurds grow as another ISIS stronghold falls (11-Oct-2017)
- Kirkuk becomes the flash point after the Iraqi Kurdistan independence referendum (03-Oct-2017)
- Israel may be the only country recognizing the Iraq Kurdistan referendum (27-Sep-2017)
- Concerns grow over chaos in Iraq after ISIS is defeated in Mosul (22-Mar-2017)
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Iraq, Kurdistan Regional Government, KRG,
Kirkuk, Sulymaniyeh, Peshmerga, Popular Mobilization Units, PMU,
Islamic State / of Iraq and Syria/Sham/the Levant, IS, ISIS, ISIL, Daesh,
Turkey, Iran, Masoud Barzani, Haider al-Abadi,
Kurdistan Democratic Party, KDP, Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, PUK
Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Contribute to Generational Dynamics via PayPal
John J. Xenakis
100 Memorial Drive Apt 8-13A
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com
Forum: http://www.gdxforum.com/forum
Subscribe to World View: http://generationaldynamics.com/subscribe
