Would You Support Independence For The Kurds?

[DemocratSinceBirth]

Poll question: Would You Support Independence For The Kurds?

I would as long as the rights of non Kurds living in the heavily Kurdish part of Iraq were protected...

[atreides1]

1. Yes

An independent Kurdistan, not autonomous.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

2. The Kurds Seem To Be The Only Ones That Have It Together There...

They don't bother their neighbors....They don't prosletyze....They only want to be left alone.....

[chicagojoe]

4. That's the impression I get.

Haven't they been governing themselves, anyway?

[chicagojoe]

3. Are the Kurds, as a whole, a people that will respect the non-Kurds?

[DemocratSinceBirth]

5. Yes...

I think one of the reasons that the powers that be don't want to give the Kurds independence is because Kurdistan is the home of large oil reserves....

[chicagojoe]

6. Right, right, right. The OIL.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

7. here's a good link...

It seems like history has not been kind to them...


http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/world/A0859147.html

[illflem]

8. Thanks for the link

It sounds as though the Turks have treated the Kurds worse than Saddam ever did

[yinkaafrica]

9. They will never see their dream come true

Turkey, and God knows who else, will never allow it. Very sad.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

10. I Would Really Like To See The

Tibetans, the Kurds, and the Palestinians gain independence but I am not holding my breath...

[tjwmason]

13. Also Turkey

The Turkish government is completely opposed to any independent Kurdistan being created from Iraq because that would strengthen the independence minded Kurds in Turkey.

Turkey is starting to behave somewhat better towards the Kurds as it moves towards membership of the E.U.

[cestpaspossible]

11. Isn't this the Kissinger plan?

doesn't he want to split Iraq into 3?

[DemocratSinceBirth]

15. That Might Not Be A Bad Idea

If The Kurds, Shiites, and Sunnis respected the minority populations after partition...

[donheld]

12. The Kurds are treated just a little better than Palestinians

It's really quite distressing.

[Selatius]

14. An independent Kurdistan could cause problems

It would frighten Turkey, Syria, and Iran. They all have sizeable Kurdish minority groups, and they fear the presence of an independent Kurdish state would provoke indigenous Kurds in their territories to agitate for independence as well. Turkey has all but pledged that the emergence of a Kurdish state would lead to their intervention in northern Iraq. It would make the war in Iraq a much worse, much darker nightmare than it already is.

I'd support Kurdish independence, but I'd only do it if I could secure a pledge from Turkey not to attack the Kurds in Iraq when they declare independence.

If Iraq can't maintain its own integrity, I'd recommend to Iraqis to adopt a weak federal system or even a confederal system like the one Switzerland operates on.

[Andromeda]

16. The Kurds have always gotten the short end....

of the stick. They are hated by Iraq. Turkey would like to drive them into the ground. They are just generally hated by some for no good reason.

They are the quintessential underdog and I think they should have their own country, or territory, without concern about being attacked by their enemies.

They have certainly earned the right to be independent, IMHO, but it won't be easy. They are a persistant people though and they might prevail.

Why is it that some groups of people have to have somebody to look down on?