The New York Times: Iraqi Forces Sweep Into Kirkuk, Checking Kurdish Independence Drive
The Kurds voted overwhelmingly in a referendum for independence from Iraq. Three weeks later the government of Iraq responded by sending the military to the oil-rich region. “In clashes that pit two crucial American allies against each other, government troops seized the vital city of Kirkuk and surrounding oil fields, ousting the Kurdish forces who had controlled the region for three years in their effort to build an independent nation in the northern third of Iraq,” reports David Zucchino for the New York Times. Iraq, Turkey and Iran – each with sizable minority Kurdish populations – oppose an independent Kurdish state. The Kurds, allied with the United States, contributed ground forces in driving out Islamic State extremists from territory throughout Iraq and Syria. Still, “The United States, Baghdad and most countries in the region condemned the [Kurdish] vote, fearing it would fuel ethnic divisions across the region, lead to the break up of Iraq and hobble the fight against the Islamic State.” The Kurdish military was divided about how to respond to the arrival of Iraqi force, Zucchino reports, but fighting was minimal. Governments throughout the Middle East must ensure fair representation and treatment for their minority populations or the countries will not know peace. – YaleGlobal
The New York Times: Iraqi Forces Sweep Into Kirkuk, Checking Kurdish Independence Drive
Kurds were crucial ally, contributing forces to battle the Islamic State, but Iraq offers a military response to the Kurdish referendum on independence
Tuesday, October 17, 2017
David Zucchino is a contributing writer for The New York Times. He was awarded a Pulitzer Prize in 1989 for his reporting from South Africa. He’s a four-time Pulitzer Prize finalist for coverage of Lebanon, Africa, inner-city Philadelphia and Iraq. He has reported from more than three dozen countries, most recently from Iraq. He is also the author of the books Thunder Run: The Armored Strike to Capture Baghdad (2004) and Myth of the Welfare Queen (1997).
Reporting was also contributed by Falih Hassan and Omar al-Jawoshy from Baghdad, Margaret Coker from London, and Kamil Kakol from Sulaimaniya, Iraq.
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