Dialogue, not force

The Iraq’s Kurdish Regional Government’s bid for separation from Iraq to form an independent state undoubtedly opens the door to uncertainties, not only for Baghdad, but also for neighbouring countries, particularly Turkey.

KRG President Massoud Barazani recently made this bid official when he informed UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres in New York of his intention to hold a referendum on this issue this summer.

On the one hand, the territorial integrity of Iraq, a UN member state, would be at stake and of course threatened.

Baghdad cannot be expected to welcome this move since it may set in motion a chain of events leading to the dismemberment of the country.

On the other, peoples are entitled, under recognised international law, to enjoy the right to self determination.

Article 1 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights stipulates clearly that “all peoples have the right of self-determination, by virtue of which they may freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural rights”.

Ankara appears to have an ambivalent attitude towards such a Kurdish move.

On the one hand, Turkey fears that an independent state of Kurdistan would be followed by a demand for an independent Kurdish state on its territory, where a sizeable Kurdish minority, numbering no less than 20 million, lives.

Turkey has been locked in a 30-year conflict with the Kurdish Workers’ Party over this very reason and has all the reasons to fear such a possibility.

On the other hand, Turkey is a heavy investor in the economy of Iraq’s Kurdistan region.

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was quoted as saying in 2015 that the potential breakup of Iraq is Iraq’s domestic issue and Turkey would not meddle in it

“That’s none of our business,” Erdogan was quoted as commenting.

Turkey and France are the only two countries in the world that do not recognise the existence of minorities, big or small, within their borders.

Both countries contend that all their citizens are equal and citizens of their countries.

Both Paris and Ankara can be commended for this position on their “minorities”, yet the problem lies in the fact that international norms do not accept this thesis.

As such, both France and Turkey often find themselves locked in disputes over this issue at meetings of international human rights treaty bodies.

Recognition of certain fundamental ethnic rights can take the sting out of this controversy.

The right of minorities to language, culture and limited self-rule can go a long way to diffuse this challenge to the territorial integrity of nations.

This is where statesmanship, rather than confrontation, can work to settle such standoff peacefully.