Sheri Laizer | Exclusive to iKurd.net
Israel and the Kurds ponder the possibilities
Kurdish officials have observed the presence of Ali Qarkarani in Sinjar (Mt. Shingal) [northwest Iraq]. Since the Iranian Popular Units or Hashd al-Shaabi, allied with the Shi’a dominated Iraqi army, gained control of Kirkuk and other strategic border areas between Baghdad controlled areas and the Kurdistan Regional Government since October 16 Iran is further testing its strength.
The referendum for the independence of Kurdistan held on 25 September with a 92.73 Yes vote in favour of a long overdue Kurdish state provided the justification Tehran and Baghdad needed to push their forces forward. The Kurdish peshmerga were put under pressure to retreat to their former boundaries as defined before the invasion of ISIS.
One might well ask why Ali Qarkarani is now able to strut around Mt. Shingal. He is not an Iraqi. Israel may well tremble, as also the Kurds. Seth Franzman observed for the Jerusalem Post in an article detailing the location’s significance a year before: “In October 1990, two months after Iraq invaded Kuwait and set off an international crisis, Israel’s 4.5 million citizens (today the population has almost doubled) were sent notices telling them to pick up gas masks at distribution centres…1
Pic: Ali Qakarani (centre right) in civilian clothes accompanied by Iranian forces including some 30 or more bodyguards on 18 October 2017.
Sheri Laizer, a Middle East and North African expert specialist and well known commentator on the Kurdish issue. She is a senior contributing writer for iKurd.net. More about Sheri Laizer see below.
The opinions are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of iKurd.net or its editors.
Copyright © 2017 Sheri Laizer
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