Iraq was among the states to be born following World War I. Here, the northern region has belonged to the Kurds from time immemorial, and as the Iraqi state was created, the Kurds were not particularly willing to succumb to Baghdad’s will. In the Iraqi nation state project, the Kurds have been subject to massive injustices. The Kurds’ temporary alliance with Iran in the fight against Saddam Hussein was also severely punished. The al-Anfal Campaign executed by Saddam’s regime in the 1980s killed thousands of Kurds and turned even more into refugees.
Later on, for various reasons, the kurdish region became almost autonomous, and for the last few years, inhabitants in this region have experienced a relative stability that has not been granted the rest of the country. A few years ago, the news coming out of the so-called Iraqi Kurdistan, under the leadership of president Masoud Barzani, were characterized by reports of booming construction work and fi nancial growth – later to be replaced by reports of recession, unstability and fi ghts against ISIS. What is the situation in Kurdish Iraq now?
Hashem Ahmadzadeh is a scholar and lecturer at the University of Uppsala who has been working in the Iraqi part of Kurdistan. Academic Gareth Stansfield has followed the development in the region closely for many years. Trude Falch is an advisor on Iraq in the Norwegian People’s Aid. The three will meet journalist and writer Åshild Eidem for a conversation about the situation in the Iraqi part of Kurdistan.
English With Gareth Stansfi eld, Choman Hardi and Åshild Eidem Wergeland Litteraturhuset Saladindagene 2016