Although Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) President Massoud Barzani may have thought the fall of Kirkuk to Iraqi government forces meant going back to the pre-2014 lines — when the Iraqi army collapsed and evacuated Kirkuk, and Kurds imposed their control on some of the "disputed territories" — this is not true.
In fact, before the Kurdish independence referendum on Sept. 25, I had voiced concern to Voice of America that Kurds may face a disastrous situation reminiscent of that fateful year, 1975.