1、CRS InsightsThe Kurds and Possible Iraqi Kurdish IndependenceJim Zanotti, Specialist in Middle Eastern Affairs (jzanotticrs.loc.gov, 7-1441)Kenneth Katzman, Specialist in Middle Eastern Affairs (kkatzmancrs.loc.gov, 7-7612)July 15, 2014 (IN10105)Approximately 30 million ethnic Kurds inhabit a largel
2、y mountainous region at the intersection ofTurkey, Iraq, Syria, and Iran. In recent years, Kurdish populations have increasingly influenced regionaldevelopments, particularly given ongoing conflict and change in Iraq and Syria and long-standingefforts by Turkeys Kurds to obtain greater political rig
3、hts (see CRS Report R43612, Iraq Crisis and U.S.Policy). These developments are of interest to Congress and the Obama Administration, in light ofrecent indications that the autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq may seek outrightindependence.Regional ContextKurds share strong historical, cultura
4、l, and interactive bonds across countries, and are known as one ofthe largest ethnic groups without control of a state. Yet Kurds are also riven by a host of linguistic andpolitical differences, and vary in religiosity and Muslim confessional identitythough the majority isSunni. Members of the sizea
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