.
From the Kurdish perspective, there are two options in front of Iraqis and all of those who have a stake in Iraq.
Either maintaining the status quo, which means emphasizing Iraq’s unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity, none of which does exist in the current Iraq, they argue. According to the Kurds, this essentially means continuing with the political impasse in Baghdad and protracted disagreements between Baghdad and Erbil, while the Shia-Sunni conflict continues to threaten all of those who do not want to be part of that problem. The Kurds have tried hard to stay out of the Sunni-Shia regional conflict.
Or, the second option – facilitating a soft, amicable separation of the three, Shia, Sunni, and Kurdish entities and letting each run their own affairs in the way they desire. It is clear that by entity Kurds mean having their own independent Kurdistan. Kurds have their own reasoning and believe that on the top of the fundamental divisions in Iraq, the last decade has revealed another major rift between Iraq’s main components which is on the issue of governance. The Kurdistan Region has made a deliberate choice to embrace democratic values and principles such as the rule of law, freedom of press, the inclusion of ethnic and religious minorities, as well as the participation of women in every sphere of life. This hasn’t necessarily been the case in Baghdad or Najaf.
The current Iraq is thus not just divided over ethnic and sectarian lines, but also differences in mindsets and attitudes as to how to organize a society and govern oneself. Imposing artificial unity, Kurds argue, will only further widen these gaps and will increase the existing animosity and mistrust among these diverging entities.
Based on this, Kurds believe that maintaining the status quo is a risky option and that it will essentially make Iraq a ticking time bomb, with devastating consequences for not only Iraq itself, but also the entire Middle East region and beyond.
Either maintaining the status quo, which means emphasizing Iraq’s unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity, none of which does exist in the current Iraq, they argue. According to the Kurds, this essentially means continuing with the political impasse in Baghdad and protracted disagreements between Baghdad and Erbil, while the Shia-Sunni conflict continues to threaten all of those who do not want to be part of that problem. The Kurds have tried hard to stay out of the Sunni-Shia regional conflict.
Or, the second option – facilitating a soft, amicable separation of the three, Shia, Sunni, and Kurdish entities and letting each run their own affairs in the way they desire. It is clear that by entity Kurds mean having their own independent Kurdistan. Kurds have their own reasoning and believe that on the top of the fundamental divisions in Iraq, the last decade has revealed another major rift between Iraq’s main components which is on the issue of governance. The Kurdistan Region has made a deliberate choice to embrace democratic values and principles such as the rule of law, freedom of press, the inclusion of ethnic and religious minorities, as well as the participation of women in every sphere of life. This hasn’t necessarily been the case in Baghdad or Najaf.
The current Iraq is thus not just divided over ethnic and sectarian lines, but also differences in mindsets and attitudes as to how to organize a society and govern oneself. Imposing artificial unity, Kurds argue, will only further widen these gaps and will increase the existing animosity and mistrust among these diverging entities.
Based on this, Kurds believe that maintaining the status quo is a risky option and that it will essentially make Iraq a ticking time bomb, with devastating consequences for not only Iraq itself, but also the entire Middle East region and beyond.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rudaw.
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