Crowd waving Turkish flags

After First World War the imperialist powers under their “Divide and Rule” policy divided the Arab region into small states depriving Kurds of their right to self-determination. Kurds were in huge number in the region but this never provided them with a separate state. Some Kurd regions were aligned with Iraq, some with Syria, some were integrated by Turkey and some by  Iran causing an unending Kurdish struggle for the liberation of their homeland.

This struggle for liberation resulted in armed conflicts between the above-mentioned states and Kurds causing killings on the massive level. However, these conflicts zones were quite calm until the arrival of Arab spring on the international political arena.

In 2004 America attacked Iraq based on the false assumption of the presence of chemical weapons with Saddam regime, Kurds who were staunch rivals of Saddam Hussain sided with the United States of America. America allowed them to form their own government under the constitution and union of Iraq with regional and political sovereignty.

Similarly, in Syria, things were going quite smooth and calm until the recent ongoing civil war which divided the country into many regional governments. On one hand, 40 to 50 percent of the Syria is under the control of Bashar Al Assad and on another hand more than of the half is being controlled by many factions fighting against the Bashar regime.

About 20 percent of the whole Syria is currently under the control of the regional government of YPG(people's protection units) which is an armed wing of the PYD (Democratic Union party ). YPG is closely aligned with PKK (Kurdistan Workers Pary) which is fighting against the state of turkey and thus has transferred unrest across the border into Turkish Kurdistan.

Iran is also seeing some unrest in its Kurdistan region but nowadays the main focus of Kurds are Syria, Iraq, and Turkey. However, there is an interesting fact about Turk’s relations with Kurdistan and that is their close bonding with KRG (Kurdistan Regional Government) which is being ruled by Kurdish stalwart Massoud Barzani. Turks are continuing their air campaign against PKK and YPG but keeping close relations with Massoud Barzani (Prime minister of Iraqi Kurdistan) and even Turk special forces are providing training to Kurds against ISIS.

This can be called as the marriage of convenience between KRG and Erdogan’s government because Turks need oil from KRG and KRG needs material and territorial support from Turkey. Turkey fulfills its energy shortage from the oil supply of KRG. Similarly, KRG needs Turkish land for its trade and commercial purposes and to get land access to other countries via Turkey.

Another thing that is keeping them together is their common enmity for YPG and PKK. Massoud Barzani thinks that PKK and YPG can become a threat to his regional government if they gain widespread support among Kurds so he wants them to be at bay. Turks also know that if YPG and PKK become a potent and popular force among Kurds they can become a threat to the territorial sovereignty of Turkey. These common interests keeping them close to each other binding them in an interesting love.