OVERRIPE: Are Conditions Ripening for Iraqi Kurdish State?

It is unlikely that Syria’s Democratic Union Party (PYD) or its fighting force, the People’s Protection Units (YPG), or Turkey’s Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) will realize their objectives of statehood, but Iraq’s Kurds may be in a far more advantageous position to press for independence. Significant obstacles remain for Iraqi Kurds, but the combination of regional instability, the coming liberation of Mosul, and the state of Iraqi politics may help advance the historic goals of Kurdish leaders.

It might not matter if Syria’s or Turkey’s are “ready” for statehood. If Iraq’s Kurds achieve independence, Free Kurdistan will almost surely follow.

Whether we would get one Kurdistan or several remains an open question, but any people who can maintain cultural cohesion for so many centuries without a country, could probably make a go at unity.