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1 1 (January 23, 2019)

handle is hein.crs/govxzd0001 and id is 1 raw text is: The Kurds in Iraq, Turkey, Syria, and Iran The Kurds of the Middle East are an ethnonational group distinct from other peoples of the region. They share strong historical, cultural, and interactive bonds across countries, and are one of the largest groups without control of a state. Despite shared ties, Kurds differ from one another along linguistic, political, and religious lines. Although most are Sunni Muslim, some belong to different Muslim sects (i.e., Shiite, Alevi, Alawite) or different religions entirely (i.e., Christianity, Yezidism). Since the early twentieth century, Kurds in Iraq, Turkey, Syria, and Iran have periodically faced repression and economic disadvantages, and have at times engaged in conflict with their respective governments. Kurdish nationalists in these states have received support for their insurgencies or political struggles from (1) other Kurds in the region, (2) the Kurdish diaspora in Europe (numbering more than one million, mostly from Turkey), (3) neighboring governments, and (4) various international (including U.S.) sources. Sources: Gene Thorp/Washington Post, citing the Central Intelligence Agency; Council on Foreign Relations; adapted by CRS. Relative cohesiveness among some Kurdish groups (in comparison with non-Kurds) appears to have helped them Updated January 23, 2019 mount some of the most effective military opposition in Iraq and Syria against the Islamic State organization. The two most prominent sources of Kurdish leadership come from the PKK (see inset graphic for acronym explanations), which originated in Turkey, and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in Iraq. The two entities are rivals but also make periodic common cause. The PKK and KRG have traditionally employed different approaches to vying for transnational influence. The PKK uses its longstanding tradition of armed resistance to attract Kurdish followers and sympathizers across borders, while the KRG's functional autonomy in northern Iraq (since shortly after the 1991 Gulf War) has served as a model for other Kurdish movements seeking greater self-governance. The PKK's cross-border reach comes largely through (1) its democratic confederalism with major Kurdish groups in Syria (PYD) and Iran (PJAK) seeking greater autonomy or functional independence, (2) financial and media support from the Kurdish diaspora in Europe, and (3) its military safe haven in the Qandil mountains (within the KRG's territorial boundaries near the Iranian border). The KRG has boosted its regional and international profile in recent years by expanding international political, trade, and investment relationships. However, after a September 2017 KRG-sponsored advisory referendum on independence, the Iraqi government reasserted control over a number of disputed territories that Kurdish forces had administered after government forces fled from Islamic State fighters in 2014. Without oil-rich Kirkuk governorate and an uncontested export pipeline, independence would be less viable for Iraqi Kurds. Iraq. Since 2003, Iraqi Kurds have had more control over their affairs than at any time in Iraq's history, while also significantly influencing the country's future. Kurdish self- governance came in large part from U.S. military operations that prevented Saddam Hussein's Iraqi forces from reasserting control in certain predominantly Kurdish areas of northern Iraq after the 1991 Gulf War. (Hussein's forces killed thousands of Iraqi Kurds during the Iran-Iraq War of the 1980s and displaced thousands immediately after the Gulf War.) An earlier U.S.-Iran effort to aid Kurdish rebels had ended after a 1975 Iran-Iraq diplomatic agreement. Within the KRG, the two main political groups are the KDP, with its traditional sphere of control in northern KRG territories; and the PUK, with its traditional sphere of control in southern areas. Peshmerga militias are affiliated with each group and with the KRG. The PUK split from the KDP in 1975, and the two groups have subsequently alternated between cooperation and conflict-being divided along lines of political philosophy, personal ambition, ittps://crsreports.congress

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