The developments among the Kurds of Syria had immediate impact on the KRG and especially on the Kurds of Turkey. The fact that the Kurds of Syria managed to take control of the Kurdish towns and villages in the Syrian north opened for the KRG a new horizon never before dreamt of, namely the possibility of reaching out to the Mediterranean Sea via Kurdistan in Syria. For a landlocked region this could be an important step toward independence.
For the Kurds of Turkey, the contagious effect of the "Arab Spring," especially in Syria, was crucial, as it has impacted the Kurds in Turkey on three different levels. First, the AKP's vigorous anti-Assad campaign and its support to the Syrian opposition moved Assad to renew his support to the PKK as a quid pro quo. Second, the bolstering of the Syrian Kurds' position as a result of their takeover of the Kurdish regions in Syria and their demands for a federative system became a source of emulation for the Kurds of Turkey. Third, the border between Turkish and Syrian Kurds became porous, thus strengthening cross-border influences between the two communities.
The most important turn of events among the Kurds in Turkey was the solidification of their movement into two wings: the military and political-popular one.
Since the takeover of the Kurdish region in Syria, the PKK escalated significantly its attacks against Turkish targets. Concurrently, popular resistance a la Ghandistyle led by the PKK and the BDP were reinforced in various forms. These included sit-in demonstrations by mothers whose sons had disappeared, civic Friday prayers in Kurdish conducted in the streets, boycotts of parliament sessions and government mosques and the latest move, the hunger strike by hundreds of Kurdish prisoners.
All this amounted to a severe challenge to the AKP government which has promised time and again to find a peaceful solution to the problem. Ironically, however, under the AKP governments the Kurdish issue became multi-dimensional, full of paradoxes and much more complicated than at any time in the past.
Concerning the Kurds of Iran, it appears as if the upheavals in the region have bypassed them. In fact since the brutal suppression of their uprising during the early years of the Islamic Republic (1979-1983) the Kurds of Iran have continued to oppose the Iranian regimes in various periods, with changing intensity.
And even though they appear to have been politically dormant in the past few years, they have the potential to become a dynamo for deep changes in Iran itself as well as in the other Kurdish regions. They are only waiting for a trigger.
To sum up, the past hundred years were perhaps the worst in Kurdish history, including division among different states, campaigns of assimilation and even genocide. But the 21st century heralds new and better things. The Kurds have regained their voice, identity and visibility in the world. Furthermore, the upheavals in the Arab world catapulted them into an important player in the region capable of reshaping its geo-strategic map. If we add to this that in the 21st century the sacred cows of nation-states have lost some of their sacredness, then the Kurds have some hope for optimism and a better future.
