BAGHDAD: The campaign to drive Islamic State (IS) out of Syria stands weakened as thousands of Kurdish fighters have been drawn away to defend Afrin after Turkey sent troops across the border. In their absence, hundreds of foreign IS fighters escaped. Far from Donald Trump’s promise to fix relations between Turks and Kurds, Washington now faces greater disarray across Iraq, Turkey and Syria. Away from Syria, a US success story in Iraq may be in the process of coming unstuck. Under the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG), the small pocket of Iraqi Kurdistan had been described as a ‘haven of religious tolerance and relative safety’ and a ‘sanctuary’ for refugees. Even Turkey has normalised its relations with the KRG, and is now its top external trading partner. Yet, as the region crumbles, Kurdish unity in Iraq appears to be unravelling as well.
Baghdad’s oil exports through Sulaymaniyah also undercut Barzani and his party, the Kurdish Democratic Party, in another way. Sulaymaniyah, in eastern Iraqi Kurdistan, is the heartland of the Gorran Movement, the largest Iraqi Kurd opposition party. It staunchly opposed the independence referendum. Bolstering Sulaymaniyah’s oil economy spreads patronage to a different voter base, one that is much friendlier to Baghdad.
