The Kurds have proved to be, roughly speaking, the Swiss of the Muslim Middle East.
Daniel Pipes "Before welcoming the emerging state of Kurdistan in northern Iraq, I confess to having opposed its independence in the past."
"In 1991, after the Gulf War had ended and as Saddam Hussein attacked Iraq’s 6 million Kurds, I made three arguments against American intervention on their behalf, arguments still commonly heard today: (1) independence for Iraq’s Kurds would spell the end of Iraq as a state, (2) it would embolden Kurds to agitate for independence in Syria, Turkey, and Iran, leading to destabilization and border conflicts, and (3) it would invite the persecution of non-Kurds, causing “large and bloody exchanges of population.”
"All three expectations proved flat-out wrong. Given Iraq’s wretched domestic and foreign track record, the end of a unified Iraq promises relief, as do Kurdish stirrings in the neighboring countries. Syria is already fracturing into its three ethnic and sectarian components — Kurdish, Sunni Arab, and Shi’i Arab — which promises benefits in the long term. Kurds’ departing from Turkey would usefully impede the reckless ambitions of now-president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Similarly, Kurds’ decamping from Iran would helpfully diminish that arch-aggressive mini-empire. Far from non-Kurds fleeing Iraqi Kurdistan, as I feared, the opposite has occurred: Hundreds of thousands of refugees are pouring in from the rest of Iraq to benefit from Kurdistan’s security, tolerance, and opportunities.
Daniel Pipes "Before welcoming the emerging state of Kurdistan in northern Iraq, I confess to having opposed its independence in the past."
"All three expectations proved flat-out wrong. Given Iraq’s wretched domestic and foreign track record, the end of a unified Iraq promises relief, as do Kurdish stirrings in the neighboring countries. Syria is already fracturing into its three ethnic and sectarian components — Kurdish, Sunni Arab, and Shi’i Arab — which promises benefits in the long term. Kurds’ departing from Turkey would usefully impede the reckless ambitions of now-president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Similarly, Kurds’ decamping from Iran would helpfully diminish that arch-aggressive mini-empire. Far from non-Kurds fleeing Iraqi Kurdistan, as I feared, the opposite has occurred: Hundreds of thousands of refugees are pouring in from the rest of Iraq to benefit from Kurdistan’s security, tolerance, and opportunities.
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