Can Iraqi Kurds bank on Turkey?
Iraqi Kurdish leaders have been openly talking about independence, but their security situation is precarious, after the fall of Mosul to ISIS militants.
![Iraqi Kurdish men chat on a street in the Kurdish town of Halabja Iraqi Kurdish men chat on a street in the Kurdish town of Halabja, near Sulaimaniya, 260 km (160 miles) northeast of Baghdad, February 1, 2014. Picture taken February 1, 2014. To match IRAQ-KURDS/SYRIA REUTERS/Yahya Ahmad (IRAQ - Tags: SOCIETY POLITICS CONFLICT) - RTX1877X](/sites/default/files/styles/article_hero_medium/public/almpics/2014/06/RTX1877X.jpg/RTX1877X.jpg?h=c2c5b897&itok=vBhv_M7r)
ERBIL, Iraq — “Before Mosul and after Mosul.” Iraqi Kurdish leaders have taken turns repeating this mantra after capturing vast swaths of disputed territories, including their “Jerusalem,” the oil-rich province of Kirkuk.
Their message is clear. After the dramatic fall of Mosul to Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) fighters, Iraq cannot be glued back together again. Nechirvan Barzani, the prime minister of the Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), put it to the BBC like this: “I think it will be very difficult for [the] situation to go back as before. I don’t think it [Iraq] can stay together again.”