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The Kurds were late to the idea of nationalism in the 20th century, and when the borders were drawn in the region they became the largest stateless nation in the world, divided mainly between Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria. In an unlikely period when hope was fading, a Kurdistan regional government in Iraq was born as the former Iraqi regime was weakened after the first Gulf War and the subsequent no-fly zone. Two decades on, the region has become more assertive and been making many new friends, largely because of its newfound wealth, its influence in post-Saddam Iraq, and its stability when compared with the rest of Iraq. Oil has been a curse for the Kurds and Iraq as a whole, but now the Kurds appear to have found a way to use its resources for economic development, ensuring that the Kurdistan region remains stable and can establish itself as a self-governing and influential entity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article criticizes the so-called 'artificiality paradigm' concerning the emergence of the modern state on Iraq, according to which the kingdom of Iraq that came into being in 1921 was nothing but a random collection of Ottoman provinces that had little in common. On the basis of documents from the late Ottoman period, the article shows that the opposite appears to be the case: In many ways, the modern state of Iraq had regional antecedents that predated the British invasion in 1914. The article shows that for long periods before 1914 there existed a pattern of administrative centralization of Basra, Baghdad and Mosul under Baghdad as a paramount regional capital, that this regional entity was often described as 'Iraq' in administrative and diplomatic correspondence, and that the local inhabitants often referred to Iraq in a patriotic sense. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the challenges of Kurdish nationalism within Turkey and of Kurdish nationalist movements emanating from Iraq during the period between the 22 July 2007 elections and the crises of March 2008. In particular the article discusses the following developments: First, the domestic political scene, particularly the consequences of the 22 July elections and the surprisingly strong wins of AKP deputies in the southeast and east of Turkey versus the relatively poor showing of the DTP; second, the efforts of the Turkish Armed Forces and businessmen's associations to ameliorate economic grievances in the southeast; and third, the increase in PKK terror activities and the TAF's subsequent air and land attacks on northern Iraq. The conclusion addresses the implications of the ongoing U.S. occupation of Iraq for Turkish-Kurdish relations, and discusses the trade-offs of different instruments utilized by Turkey to resolve the Kurdish problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the aftermath of the US-led invasion and occupation of Iraq in 2003, Iraqi Kurds have made unprecedented political gains due to their alliance with the United States and the key role they have played in the post-Saddam government in Baghdad. Although Iraqi Kurds yearn for independence, their leaders have refrained from following such a course in view of Turkish and Iranian anxieties that an independent Kurdistan in northern Iraq would stimulate nationalism among their restive Kurdish populations. Turkey and Iran have warned Iraqi Kurdish leaders against pursuing independence, and the former has warned the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) against plans to incorporate oil-rich Kirkuk. Although both countries engage in mutually beneficial trade with the KRG, the Turkish and Iranian governments have quarrelled with the Kurdish leadership over the activities of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and the Party of Free Life of Kurdistan (PJAK), which have used KRG territory to launch attacks against Turkey and Iran respectively. In view of the acute vulnerability of Iraqi Kurdistan, prudence requires that the Iraqi Kurdish leadership avoid any needless provocation of Turkey and Iran, and to refrain from any hasty move toward independence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents an analysis of the policies of Turkey toward the development of nationalism, capitalism and state formation in Kurdistan-Iraq and Iraq in 2005. Elections in the provinces of Iraq and for the Kurdish parliament; Reason of the U.S. to involve Turkey in the rebuilding and economic development of Iraq; Commitment of Prime Minister Recep Tayyib Erdogan to participate in the U.S. Wider Middle East Initiative.