Kawa Hassan Talks Kurdistan to OpenCanada

Media Coverage | June 29, 2016

“If tomorrow an independent Kurdistan will be declared, it will be independent of Baghdad but dependent on Ankara," says Kawa Hassan, Director of EWI's Middle East and North Africa Program, in an interview with OpenCanada.org.

Hassan recently spoke of the state of Kurdistan for an article titled "Out of Iraq’s ashes, Kurdistan grows."

Some of his comments are:

  • "At the moment, Baghdad is weak and cannot impose its will. But whether they would accept Kurdistan having Kirkuk as a province—I really doubt it.
  • He says that if the KRG attempts to unilaterally secede with Kirkuk, “there will definitely be war.”
  • But an independent Kurdistan would be entering into economic relations with its neighbours from a position of relative weakness, says Hassan. “If tomorrow an independent Kurdistan will be declared, it will be independent of Baghdad but dependent on Ankara.” 

To read the complete article, go here.

Hassan has spoken at length about the future of Kurdistan. More of his insight on the topic is available here, here, and here.