Kurds and Christians both want security and autonomy as minorities in Iraq. But one’s dream could dash the other’s.
A referendum that could lead to the establishment of an independent Kurdish nation is set for September 25.
Upwards of 35 million Kurds—a majority-Muslim community and the fourth-largest ethnic group in the Middle East, spread across Turkey, Iran, Iraq, and Syria—are on the verge of turning their century-old dream of a homeland into reality.
Victimized by the Ottomans during the Armenian (and Kurdish) genocide of the 1910s and regularly persecuted since, Kurds have long been a marginalized population. Ironically, the recent upheaval in the Middle East has presented them with an opportunity. Many are moving to take advantage of regional mayhem and political malfeasance, filling a void of security and governance with self-determination.
The idea of a free Kurdistan isn’t popular among non-Kurds. Turkey has openly fought with its Kurdish population in a decades-long conflict that has killed between 30,000 and 40,000 since 1984; the Syrian regime readily repressed Kurdish rights; and Saddam Hussein’s Iraq murdered tens of thousands of Kurds in the country’s north.
But as war has ravaged Syria and Iraq, and as the Islamic State swept from Raqqa to Mosul and nearly to Baghdad, Kurds are not throwing away their shot.
Kurds in Syria have declared autonomous enclaves collectively called Rojava. In neighboring Iraq, where Kurds have claimed a level of autonomy since 1970, the recent turmoil has given Iraqi Kurdistan new territory and greater autonomy. It has also given Iraqi Kurds momentum to push the referendum.
Christians in the Middle East share a special bond with Kurds: they’re both minorities. That doesn’t mean they’re always political bedfellows, but they often share common interests. ...
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