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U.S. Task Force Releases Report on Kurdish Independence

kurdish independence

On Tuesday, a U.S.-based task force released a special report on Kurdish independence. The report mainly focuses on state-building in Iraqi Kurdistan, but touches on other Kurdish-majority regions.

The Task Force was assembled in April 2015, and has since devised a comprehensive list of strategies, methodologies, findings and recommendations to strengthen democracy in Iraqi Kurdistan and enhance security cooperation in the fight against ISIS.

Task Force Chaired by U.S. Ambassador

Ambassador Nancy E. Soderberg, former President Clinton’s Deputy National Security Adviser, is the chair of the Task Force. David Phillips, Kurdish scholar and Director of Columbia University’s Program on Peace-building and Rights is the Task Force Director.

Additional members of the Task Force include former U.S. officials, U.S. and European scholars and activists with many years of experience in Kurdish issues. A number of the members visited Erbil and Ankara to investigate on behalf of the Task Force. 

Key Findings on Independence

The key findings of the report were outlined in a statement released by the Task Force:

The region is in crisis – Iraq’s collapse, Syria’s civil war, the overwhelming flow of refugees, the brutal sweep of ISIS, and Russia’s latest move to prop up the Assad regime. These events are a wake-up call to U.S. policy-makers: the current course is failing.

It’s time for some difficult decisions. Done correctly, the emergence of an independent, democratic, prosperous, and stable Iraqi Kurdistan is a win-win, advancing the interests of the Kurds, Iraq, countries in the region, and the broader international community.

The full report can be viewed and downloaded below.

Download (PDF, 251KB)

 

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