CRS – The Kurds and Possible Iraqi Kurdish Independence. Jim Zanotti, Specialist in Middle Eastern Affairs; Kenneth Katzman, Specialist in Middle Eastern Affairs. July 15, 2014 (IN10105)

“Approximately 30 million ethnic Kurds inhabit a largely mountainous region at the intersection of Turkey, Iraq, Syria, and Iran. In recent years, Kurdish populations have increasingly influenced regional developments, particularly given ongoing conflict and change in Iraq and Syria and long-standing efforts by Turkey’s Kurds to obtain greater political rights (see CRS Report R43612, Iraq Crisis and U.S. Policy). These developments are of interest to Congress and the Obama Administration, in light of recent indications that the autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq may seek outright independence.”