DIYARBAKIR, Turkey — When Molla Mustafa Barzani, father of the current president of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), established the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) in 1946, his real objective was autonomy for the Kurds. He relinquished his post to his son Massoud in 1979. Massoud followed in his father’s footsteps and refrained from advocating independence until the 2000s. That is when the status of the Kurdish region was given constitutional recognition and the Kurds began standing on their own feet; it's also when their relations with the central government soured.
The fundamental cause of their deteriorating relations was economic. As tensions mounted, Kurds began to play the "independence" card while repeatedly warning that if nothing else could be done they were ready to declare independence after holding a referendum.