Kurds before a Regional Transformation

The Kurdish independence movement is in retreat. Contributing factors for this withdrawal are the new outbreak of the Kurdish war in Turkey, the structural weakening of the autonomous region "Rojava" in Syria, proclaimed by the DUP, and the setbacks in Iraqi Kurdistan, caused by political and economic blockades. The Kurdish autonomy projects will be reduced to a minimum. The independence referendum in Iraq and the Iraqi and Shiite militias' military response are indicative of the reluctance of the Middle-Eastern ruling forces to accept political and ethnical pluralism. External actors as the USA, the EU and the UN, support the return of the "strong" state in order to support regional stability. Kurdish elites and their political organisations are facing a crisis of their own. The Kurdistan Workers' Party propagates postmodern concepts of a post-nation state in a region requiring stable political structures more than ever before. In Iraqi Kurdistan ongoing internal fighting between the main actors sets back Nation and State building processes by decades. All these factors are part of a phase of transition aiming at a new regional order, whose outlines can't be anticipated yet.

Ferhad Seyder, Prof. of Political Science for Kurdish Studies, University of Erfurt.

J. Sindi, Advisor in Kurdish Council of Ministers.

C. Lechowski, A. Maxa and L. Zumstein, former research assistants of the Mustafa Barzani Section. Kurdish independence movement is in retreat. Contributing factors for the withdrawal are the new outbreak of the Kurdish war in Turkey, the structural weakening of the autonomous region "Rojava" and the setbacks in Kurdistan. The referendum and military action in Iraq show the reluctance of the Middle-Eastern ruling forces to accept pluralism. The PKK has postmodern concepts of a postnation state in a region requiring stable political structures more than ever before. All these factors are part of a phase of transition aiming at a new regional order, whose