THE KURDS IN IRAQ: PROBLEM AND SOLUTION ATTEMPTS

Abstract

The Kurds’ history in Iraq is fraught with problems related to their lack of fair representation in the decision-making institutions of the center, not letting them administer their affairs in Kurdish-populated areas, and not fully enjoying cultural rights. In addition to these constraints, centralization during the Monarchical and Republican regimes (before 2003) has weakened their confidence in successive governments and state institutions. Centralization, however, was not the only factor that made Kurds disavow the calls of ‘one nation to all’ launched by successive governments. There were other more damaging factors to the relations between the two sides of the conflict. One of these factors is that the Iraqi state, rather than responding positively to the demands of the Kurds, tended to adopt hard power policies relatively, from the mid-20th century until its fall in 2003. As a reaction to the Iraqi state’s use of force to control Kurdish movements for guaranteeing cultural, political and administrative rights, the Kurds resorted to political movements in the 1940s and armed movements in the early 1960s. The important question now is what successive governments could have done to address the demand of Kurds and in turn creating political stability in Iraq?