Unlike other freedom movements (Tamils in Sri Lanka and Catalans in Spain), the Kurdish movement lacks an inclusive concept of what actually constitutes Kurdistan that all parties agree on. There is no evidence of a common platform among Kurdish political organizations or even an umbrella organization, the task of which would be the coordination of Kurdish political activism. Furthermore, there are competing models of state-building, at the forefront of which are the nation-state model and the revolutionary model.

The KRG and the AANES essentially represent two different models of statehood, although none is officially a state (the KRG is a regional government but acts like a state and the AANES is a de facto administration). While the KRG adheres to the older nation-state model – an internationally safeguarded autonomous Kurdish entity within Iraq in the short and medium term, leaving open the possibility of an independent Kurdish nation in the long term – the AANES has aimed to follow the revolutionary model: democratic confederalism. However, in practice the KRG model has all the hallmarks of authoritarian modernizers – failed models of the last century – with only superficial nods towards a legally constituted democracy with a system based on the rule of law. The AANES, on the other hand, has advanced the revolutionary model, which ignores the state and advocates for bottom-up democracy – a grassroots, self-organizing Kurdish model of autonomy – under the auspices of the PYD founded in Syria in 2003. In practice, however, in the context of today's war-torn Syria under the hawkish eye of Turkey to the north, the model has unravelled many challenges. Perhaps with time and contextual changes, the revolutionary model with its egalitarian and democratic potentials will improve. Although the existence of both models has energized Kurdish national aspirations across the region and the diaspora, they have failed thus far to demonstrate a meaningful system of democracy. This chapter covers the KRG and its development, achievements and challenges. Chapter 6 covers the AANES, its origins and its growth into a formidable force in Syria.

IRAQI KURDS: A HISTORY OF STATE REPRESSION

The Kurds, alongside the Arab Shi’as, bore the brunt of Saddam's wrath more than any other Iraqis. The Kurds in particular paid a high price in Saddam's campaign of Kurdish genocide known as al-Anfal.