Page 162 - The Danger of a Communist Kurdistan

However, the present moment is too early for that to happen, because
similar conditions also need to emerge in Iran, Syria and Turkey. Until
then, the Kurdish autonomous administration in Iraq will continue to
exist as a de facto established state.

The second stage in the plan, which is the awaited progress in
terms of the Syrian Kurds, also appears to have been achieved. The
Kurdish administration here, which is divided into cantons, frequently
declares autonomy but because of the ongoing civil war in Syria, it fails
to find an audience and then reverts again to the already existing
system. However, in this particular stage, there is one noteworthy

point, which is the extreme sensitivity displayed by the Western coun-
tries towards the Kurdish region in Syria. Let us examine this under
another heading.

The West’s Sensitivity over Kobane

We know that the Arab Spring protests that broke out in 2011 had
a particularly damaging impact on Syria. It will be remembered that

ISIL (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or Islamic State as of June
2014), which became increasingly powerful on Syrian territory, took
over a number of strategic points and moved into Iraq. The interesting
thing is that as ISIL took over areas such as Ar-Raqqah and Deir ez-
Zor, cities of strategic importance in terms of oil and their proximity to
the border, they captured Fallujah, Ramadi and eventually Mosul in
Iraq and assumed control over the Turkmen town of Tuz Khormato,

then continued to move through Al Anbar governorate and approac-
hed the Iraqi capital Baghdad. The West had remained silent so far, but
when ISIL changed its existing plan and started targeting Kurdish
areas, the West went into action. The moment an attack on the Kurdish
region in Iraq was sensed, the West, which had until then turned a deaf

160 The Danger of a Communist Kurdistan