Controversy riling the region explained

Who are Kurds?

Kurds, who have never obtained a permanent nation state, come from a mountainous region straddling the borders of Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran.

They were given hope around the time of the Treaty of Sevres in 1920 when a provision was made for a Kurdish state in the aftermath of World War I. But it was never implemented and Kurds have been waiting ever since, according to euronews.

QWhat is happening? Kurdistan, an autonomous region in northern Iraq, held a referendum on Monday, calling for full independence from Baghdad.

QWhy is it important?

Experts say the electorate is likely to give the thumbs up to independence and, with lots of neighboring countries opposing it, this could lead to more instability in a region already plagued by volatility.

Why does Kurdistan want independence?

Kurds in northern Iraq already have their own Parliament, can pass their own laws and have control of areas like education.

QSo why do they want to go a step further?

“Kurdistan’s regional government has been frozen for the last two years and the current president has not withdrawn from office even though he was supposed to,” Zeynep Kaya, research fellow at the London School of Economics’ Middle East Centre, told euronews.

“So there is a bit of a political crisis going on. Masoud Barzani (president) has lost some degree of credibility, particularly

Qwith the economic crisis in Kurdistan.

“So pushing for independence and this idea of national unity helps Barzani gain some credibility because he has always been at the forefront of Kurdish independence — his family has been fighting for it for more than a century.

“Kurds believe they are worse off as part of Iraq because the Iraqi Army has not been able to protect the Kurds and the Yazidis.

“The Baghdad regime is not sending the share of the budget to Kurdistan so they see

Baghdad as the cause of the ills.”

What do neighboring countries think?

Iraq, Turkey and Iran are all against the referendum.

QIraq sees the vote as unconstitutional and a prelude to breaking up the country, while Turkey and Iran fear it will spark independence movements among their own Kurdish populations.

The US is also against Kurds’ independence because it does not want anything to weaken Iraq — one of its key allies in the fighting against Daesh.