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The Militant (logo)
Vol. 81/No. 39 October 23, 2017
(front page)
Kurds stand firm for independence against blockade by Baghdad
BY BRIAN WILLIAMS
Since the overwhelming 93 percent vote for independence in Kurdistan
Sept. 25, the capitalist regimes in Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria — all
with substantial Kurdish populations — have been moving to tighten a
blockade against the Kurdistan Regional Government, demanding it back down.
Baghdad took advantage of formalities in international conventions
covering air travel to halt all international flights to and from the
Kurdistan region for at least three months Sept 29. Ankara and Tehran
have both sent troops to join Baghdad in military exercises on
Kurdistan’s border. The Iraqi government is demanding that all dealings
on oil exports from Kurdistan be done directly with Baghdad, and claimed
Oct. 10 it sent engineers to divert the flow out of the pipelines that
carry the KRG’s oil to the port in Turkey. The KRG relies on these oil
exports for almost 90 percent of its revenues.
Washington, which opposed the independence referendum and has made clear
it’s for maintaining one Iraqi state, is urging “dialogue.” The goal of
the U.S. rulers is to prevent new fighting that would disrupt its
coalition efforts to advance its economic and political interests in
Syria and Iraq.
With virtually all flights halted, except a few flying out of Erbil
airport, officials have said they may not be able to afford to stay
open. With hundreds of Kurdish tourist and travel companies affected,
some 7,000 workers would lose their jobs, reported Kurdish news service
Rudaw.
Several days after the flight ban was put into effect, Iraq’s central
bank informed the KRG that it would stop selling dollars to four major
Kurdish banks and halt all foreign currency transfers to the region.
Further tightening the squeeze, arrest warrants were issued Oct. 11 by
an Iraqi court against members of the Kurdistan Region’s High Electoral
and Referendum Commission. Asked whether this will include a warrant to
arrest Kurdish President Masoud Barzani, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider
al-Abadi told Rudaw, “We are awaiting legal procedures in this regard.”
The KRG has refused Baghdad’s demands to turn over control of its
borders or allow Iraqi authorities into its airports. Protesting the
government in Baghdad for a “tsunami” of illegal and unconstitutional
measures against the people of Kurdistan, members of Barzani’s Kurdish
Democratic Party in parliament announced they would stop attending
sessions and seek to win others to join them. Barzani has called for
talks with the Iraqi government, which they have refused.
The Kurdish referendum victory has inspired the 30 million Kurds
throughout the region — the largest nation worldwide without its own
state — and won sympathy and support from workers around the globe.
And there are some barriers to Baghdad’s moves to seize Kurdish oil from
the Kirkuk area. The Russian Rosneft oil company recently signed a
multibillion-dollar deal to extract Kurdish oil and gas to be exported
to Europe through Turkey.
Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad has stated his opposition to Kurdistan’s
referendum. Through the course of a more than six-year civil war in
Syria, Kurdish forces have made gains. The Kurdish People’s Protection
Units (YPG) have been the most effective force there in pushing back
reactionary Islamic State, and in the process some 2 million Kurds have
carved out an autonomous area called the Democratic Federal System of
Northern Syria along the border with Turkey. The Assad regime now says
it’s open to discussing an autonomous Kurdish region within Syria’s
borders — after the end of the civil war there.
With the agreement of Tehran and Moscow, Ankara has begun an incursion
into northern Syria, supposedly to “de-escalate” abutting areas in Idlib
province controlled by rebels and the Syrian army. However, several
reports say Turkish military forces are instead positioning themselves
to encircle the Kurdish canton of Afrin controlled by the YPG.
Related articles:
Capitalist crisis, attacks on autonomy behind Catalan vote
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