The Kurds in a New Middle East: The Changing Geopolitics of a Regional Conflict

Table of Contents

Abbreviations                                                                                                                            4

Preface                                                                                                                                       6

Chapter 1: The Kurdish Resurgence in a Changing Middle East                                       8

    1.1 - A Brief history of the Kurdish Question                                                                     12

    1.2 - The Re-emergence of Kurdish Nationalism during the 1960s                                    17

    1.3 - The Geopolitics of the Middle East and the Kurdish Question                                   23

Chapter 2: The Kurdish Conflict in Iraq: Towards a Sustainable Solution                    37

    2.2 - The Consolidation of Kurdish Autonomy and the KRI                                              46

    2.3 - The KRI's Challenges                                                                                                 52

Chapter 3: Turkey's Kurdish Conflict: The Sudden Reversal of Gradual Progress      64

    3.1 - Historical Overview of Turkey's Kurdish Conflict                                                     66

    3.2 - Transformation in the conflict and Turkey's democratic openings                            72

Chapter 4: The Syrian Conflict and Kurdish Ascendency                                                 93

    4.1 - The Kurdish conflict in Syria: background and the main developments                    95

    4.2 - The Democratic Federation of Northern Syria (DFNS)                                            102

    4.3 - The Challenges facing the DFNS                                                                              108

Chapter 5: The Transformation of Iran's Kurdish Conflict                                            119

    5.1 - Historical Overview of Iran's Kurdish Conflict                                                        120

    5.3 The factors behind the revival of Iran's Kurdish movement and its future prospects 130

Chapter 6: Kurdish Prospects in a Volatile Middle East                                                 145

    6.1 Opposition to Kurdish Aspirations                                                                               148

    6.2 Kurdish Prospects in the Middle East                                                                          155

Index                                                                                                                                      171