KRG and ISIS

[Tamim]

Salaam,

What is happening between the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS)?

I keep reading that the KRG is under threat by ISIS; now, there is recent news that the KRG and ISIS are partners when it comes to the oil trade.

What is going on? Is ISIS truly gonna be around for a while? Are the Kurds really in trouble?

[Bengal_Tiger]

Salaam,

What is happening between the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS)?

I keep reading that the KRG is under threat by ISIS; now, there is recent news that the KRG and ISIS are partners when it comes to the oil trade.

What is going on? Is ISIS truly gonna be around for a while? Are the Kurds really in trouble?

I don't really follow what goes on in northern Iraq, besides the fact that the Iraqis told the Turks to get out of Iraq which the Turks have done so, especially after Obama told them to do so.

This is the little that I do know.

1. The KRG is said to be a Barzani controlled state but somewhat secular and democratic in comparison to the rest of the dysfunctional middle east.

2. The KRG is in rivalry with the communist PKK and thus its wing in Syria the YPG. The two don't really like each other.

3. Economically the KRG is said by some to be virtually a Turkish satellite state.

4. Ultimately it's not astounding to hear that the KRG would like independence, though it won't say it outright and immediately. However ideally it would like an independent Kurdistan and hopes for some sort of independent Sunni Arab state through which it can then have access to Jordan for.

5. ISIS in Iraq are not just the Salafi extremists we hear about but are also normal Sunni tribes not happy with alleged Shia repression i.e. regular folks. I don't think ISIS are able to take on the well-trained Peshmergas, and also they are losing ground against the Iranian-backed regular Iraqi army.

ISIS won't be around for too long. Even their predecessors Al-Qaeda never really managed to rule a state.


6. On another note, Kurdistan in Iraq exists, as it does in Syria albeit in a somewhat nascent form and it is now emerging in Turkey.

It's said that the west wants a Kurdistan state in the middle east and many speculate that Erdogan plans to concede autonomy to the Kurds in Turkey's south east which may ultimately lead to an independent Kurdish state.

The Turkish nationalist, Turko-Islamist dream of the "Misak i Milli" i.e. greater Turkey including northern Syria and more importantly oil-rich northern Iraq has been destroyed by the Iraqi-Iranian-Russian alliance who were successful in demanding Turkish forces leave a base near Kirkuk.




The only other thing I can add is if a Kurdistan state does emerge then it has a very indirect and loose impact on the Afg-Pak region in the sense that it will be sympathetic to the Baloch.



I doubt an independent Kurdistan will have that much of an impact on Balochistan, but if Balochistan were to ever break away Pakistan ceases to exist as the following day the far more numerous 40+ million Sindh will start fighting for independence buoyed by the success of the far smaller Baloch.

[Tamim]

Thank you for the information. Would you happen to know the threats that KRG is facing from ISIS (or ISIL)?

[Bengal_Tiger]

Thank you for the information. Would you happen to know the threats that KRG is facing from ISIS (or ISIL)?

To be honest I don't. I was never really that interested in the KRG and ISIS that much. Though I definitely did take an interest when a year or two it was said ISIS were closing in on Baghdad and I received an email from a Shia friend from Baghdad (my family are of Sunni origin as are 99.99% of Bangladeshi Muslims, I only mention my friends sect as it might be of some relevance in the Iraqi context. Contary to the many lies floating around in this forum about me I am not a Shia, homosexual, heterosexual womanizer, Reddit troll etc.) saying people were worried and even stocking up on some essentials and getting ready to flee the city if needs be.

However ISIS have been contained now and the Iraqi government is in firm control of the important parts of the country.

Would the KRG fall to the ISIS?

I haven't researched this but I'm almost certain they wouldn't. They have a strong army who have actually rescued others e.g. the Yazidis and the Kurds faced the brutality of Saddam's army and survived, a fully functional Soviet-backed army that carried out horrific massacres e.g. Halabja. ISIS are a joke in comparison to Saddam's Baathist army. Plus the Kurds like Pakhtoons are a tribal people and if ISIS really were to be a threat tribal allegiances and mentality would come in to play and Kurds would fight to the death.

A cursory look at the relevant web pages produced by the appropriate search words would provide some information on this issue.





Halabja, when Saddam's Baathist army massacred Kurdish civilians with chemical weapons.







Arbil, the Kurds rebuild their region after the secular Arab nationalist/Baathist onslaught against them.