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Kirill Vertyayev, Ph.D., orientalist specializing in Kurds
The Kurdish question is not a matter that is exclusively within the jurisdiction of the borders of South Kurdistan.
This is a question that covers a large part of the cultural autonomy, which gradually develops in countries such as Syria and Turkey.
In this situation, the political will of Massoud Barzani was aimed at providing what is, in my opinion, the basis of the idea of Kurdish national unity ñ the fact that Kurds from different regions, from different countries, living within the boundaries of different states, will never fight against each other.
This is a very important message, which was formulated as a result of rather complicated negotiations with the representatives of Ankara, as well as representatives of the opposition parties in the Kurdish community.
And that message has been clearly articulated in the last address by Abdullah Ocalan, who in March in Turkey declared a final truce with Turkey.
The situation in Turkey, which is developing not only from the point of view of the rights of the Kurds, but also from the point of view of the political struggle now taking place in Turkey, which is gradually becoming a struggle of sufficiently severe forms, will certainly have an impact on the Kurdish process.
In this regard, as noted by Massoud Barzani during our meeting at the Institute of Oriental Studies, he does not take the responsibility of mediating in negotiations between Kurds and Turks in Turkey without proper authorization from Ankara.
And here he is absolutely right, because de jure political boundaries exist, they have not been repealed.
Barzaniís significance is in the fact that he was able to ensure stability in the country, which was largely determined by the fact that he acknowledged the existence of the political boundaries that exist now in the Middle East.
Indeed, the recent events in Syria, what is happening in Syria recently, last year at least, causes concern that a split of the country between Sunnis and Alawites may occur.
This question is quite painful for modern-day Turkey, where the Alawite part is quite influential in the political sphere and among the Turkish population. In this context, the Turkish scenario that is happening before our very eyes, the scenario of an internal political struggle, in many ways will have a beneficial impact on the Kurdish factor in Turkey.
The fact is that the political regime that has existed in the country since 2002, the Islamist political regime, is not an usurpation of power, this is a power that came to the country in a democratic election, but that in some way exceeded the trust of the population, which resulted in the mass protests that are taking place in Turkey.
Tellingly, the Turks and the Kurds, in opposition to the current Islamist regime, are now in Turkey on the same side.
This situation is in many ways important, because the Kurdish factor should not get involved in the conflict, or be used as a bargaining chip in the current political standoff in Turkey.
Since the de facto truce was announced, now the Kurds of Turkey and the Kurds of Iraq are interested in seeing that the situation does not get out of control, and these internal political conflicts that are happening now in Turkey do not spread to the ethnic sphere.
As for the situation in Iraqi Kurdistan, the political situation around Iraqi Kurdistan will be determined by the significant impact of the fact that in Turkey there is now a gradual withdrawal of the Kurdistan Workers Party fighters who are stationed in the Kandil Mountains, which are de jure in the territory of Iraq.
Indeed, the problem of the existence of the armed opposition, based on the territory of Iraq, is a pain in the neck for Iraqi Kurdistan and Massoud Barzani personally.
Because, despite all the pressure that was exerted on Barzani from Turkey for removing the bases, for understandable reasons, of which I spoke, he could not do that because it would provoke a conflict among the Kurds themselves, and Barzani was not interested in this.
What is now happening as a result of the peace process, the negotiation process in Turkey, will, of course, affect the Kurdistan region of Iraq. Because, sooner or later, we will have to determine the status of the armed men who will be in the Kandil Mountains.
The Turkish side during the conduct of the negotiations insisted that the first condition for an agreement between Ankara and Ocalan is that the Kurdish rebels should lay down their arms.
But by definition, from the point of view of political science, the Kurdistan Workersí Party are guerrillas who protect their specific culture, and, as a result of this, it is believed, they cannot lay down their arms, because it would mean defeat.
So the fragile peace process, which began in Turkey, will largely depend on the position of Iraqi Kurdistan, the consistency of leadership on this issue and an understanding of the need to preserve the delicate balance that now exists in Iraqi Kurdistan with all those revolutionary changes taking place in the whole of the Middle East