The Kurdish Quest for Independence

Posted: August 7th, 2017

By Tea Ivanovic

Tea Ivanovic is a Fellow at the Center for Transatlantic Relations at the Johns Hopkins University Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). Tea is also the Washington Correspondent for Oslobodjenje, a leading news outlet from the Western Balkans, and is a Fellow at Soran University in Iraqi Kurdistan. Previously, Tea was at the financial consultancy Capstone LLC and the Institute of International Finance (IIF). While completing her M.A., she was a graduate research Fellow at the Center for Constitutional Studies and Democratic Development (CCSDD) in Bologna, Italy. At SAIS Europe, she was also involved with the organization of the 60th anniversary of the SAIS Europe Center, and was the Vice-President of the Women in International Affairs (WIA) organization.

By Nahro Zagros

Dr. Nahro Zagros was born in Iraqi Kurdistan in 1974, and did his doctorate in Anthropology and ethnomusicology at York University (UK). He is Vice President of Soran University (ranked number 1 in Iraqi Kurdistan), and writes for local and international newspapers and academic journals on Kurdistan’s socio-political affairs within the wider Middle-Eastern context. His research interests include Middle Eastern politics, cultural anthropology, terrorism and counter-terrorism. Currently based in Kurdistan region of Iraq but works with different research centres in the Middle East, Europe and US.

On September 25, Iraqi Kurdistan is set to hold a referendum on independence. There are plenty of strong voices around the globe in support of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq’s (KRI) right to self-determination, but questions surround both the timing of the vote as well as the KRI’s preparedness for independence. Others, such as former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki, have emphatically rejected these efforts and have even called for the use force “if necessary” to prevent KRI’s independence.

Nonetheless, due to its role as a key ally during and after the eventual defeat of the so-called Islamic State (ISIS), as well as its defense of democratic values such as tolerance and multiculturalism, an independent KRI would play a stabilizing role in a tumultuous Middle East.

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