Masoud Barzani’s so-called “Great Kurdistan” venture, initiated by trusting in the U.S. and Israel, appears to have drawn to a close. Barzani did not heed the warning of the people he shared land with and is doomed to an ending of disappointment just like his father Mustafa Barzani.
The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) leader ignored the warnings of Iraq, Iran and Turkey and held an illegitimate referendum on Sept. 25 in an attempt to bring to life a puppet state of the U.S. and Israel.
Barzani's independent state initiative collapsed with the operation by the Iraqi army and allied fighters from Hashd al-Shaabi launched on Oct. 16.
Iraqi forces and Hashd al-Shaabi captured Kirkuk with minimal clashes within three hours despite the presence of 14,000 Peshmerga and approximately 1,400 Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) terrorists.
A curfew was declared and entry and exit points were closed. A statue depicting a Peshmerga fighter in Iraq’s Kirkuk was set on fire by Iraqi forces on Tuesday. The statue is expected to be demolished soon.
Turkmens and Arabs are demanding to return to the pre-2005 situation in Kirkuk and to create a structure that fairly represents all ethnicities with a centralized management model. Kirkuk’s 2005 population of 840,000 was raised to 1,600,000 by Kurds strategically positioned in the city to alter its demographics.