Iraqi former Foreign Minister Hoshiar Mahmoud al-Zibari (R) casts his vote during the referendum vote in Erbil, Iraq, on Sept. 25, 2017. The Iraqi Kurds on Monday cast their votes in a referendum that will determine the independence of the Kurdish region and the disputed areas that are currently under de facto Kurdish control. (Xinhua/Khalil Dawood)

The Iraqi Kurds have called for an independence referendum from Iraq which is what they say a first step in the decades' long aspiration of independence among Kurds. The U.S., supposedly the staunchest ally of the Kurds in the region, opposed the move. Iraq, obviously opposed, as did Iran and Turkey.

All these countries have their own, sizeable minority of Kurdish populations, with their individual aspirations of freedom. Kurds are also, mostly leftist, in a region beset with religious and reactionary forces.

Kurdish leaders say that the date is not an independence day, rather a start of a long battle which will ultimately lead to independence. "We will ourselves not initiate a clash or a fight," said Rowsch Shaways, a former deputy prime minister of Iraq and the head of the Kurdish delegation negotiating with Baghdad, was quoted to say. "We are pledging dialogue and a peaceful solution."

The political fallout has been massive. If the Kurds go ahead with their referendum, it would lead to the biggest upheaval in the region, known for geopolitical instability. It will lead to aspirations in the diaspora around the region, and that is something the regional powers fear. If against all odds, the Kurds manage to carve out their own country, it will be the greatest strategic restructuring in the map of the region since the creation of Israel in 1949. All the Kurds from all across the world will have a place to go and call home.

Kurds have no lands of their own, and no researchers deny that they have their own indigenous culture, community and language. Infact mitochondrial DNA testing revealed that Kurds are indigenous and share DNA with Georgians and even Israelis. But beyond that point Kurds have a history, and have historically been repressed.

In the medieval times, the Kurds often revolted against Ottoman and Persian rules, and were mercilessly butchered down. During British colonialism, Kurds were the only major tribes, who never got a land of their own, as the Kurdish population was divided between Turkey, Iran and Iraq.

During the Cold War, the Kurds were dominated by Turkey, and Iran. The dynamics of the Cold War meant that the overwhelmingly leftist Kurds were constantly in the cross hairs of both Arab nationalists like Saddam and Assad, as well as Western allies like Turkey, and Islamist theocracies, like Saudi Arabia and Iran. Saddam notoriously butchered thousands of Kurds in 1988 with chemical gas, in Halabja, which is still one of the biggest genocides against any ethnic minority.

The big opportunity for Kurds came when Saddam was toppled, which started a chain of cataclysmic events that is still shaping the modern Middle East. The rise of ISIS and the pushback gave the Kurds an even better opportunity. ISIS swept through destroying colonial borders in Iraq and Syria…but when they were pushed back by Russia and Western forces from both sides, there was a geopolitical vacuum.

As a result, for the first time in a millennia, the Kurds now have a properly marked territory, the first criteria to have a statehood. The Kurds are also drawing major international support. Recently, Israel said that they supported Kurdish statehood. That's a clever ploy, as a Kurdish state would give Israel a much needed regional counterbalance against Iran and Saudi Arabia.

Also, the establishment of a Kurdish state would mirror Israel's own creation as it would invite Kurdish people from all over the world. The regional powers would naturally be busy with this counterbalance, which will leave Israel the only unchallenged military power in the region.

That said, however, it is important to understand the aspirations of a stateless people. Kurds have been historic victims of power politics and colonialism. No people deserve the sufferings that they underwent because of colonialism and colonial borders. While it is important to keep in mind current geopolitical considerations, it is about time the Kurdish independence question is discussed further.

Sumantra Maitra is a columnist with China.org.cn. For more information please visit:

http://www.ccgp-fushun.com/opinion/SumantraMaitra.htm

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