page_title: Kurds in Iraq
section_title: Political parties
hierarchical_section_title: Kurds in Iraq / Culture and diversity / Political parties
caption_attribution_description: English: Iraqi Kurdistan 1996
context_page_description: Kurds in Iraq are people born in or residing in Iraq who are of Kurdish origin. The Kurds are the largest ethnic minority in Iraq, comprising between 15% and 20% of the country's population according to the CIA World Factbook. Most of them live in Iraqi Kurdistan.
  The Kurdish people within Iraq have grappled with various political statuses over their history. Once assumed to receive full independence via the Treaty of Sèvres, Iraqi Kurds have experienced a recent and troubled history of betrayal, oppression, and genocide. After the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime in 2003, Iraqi Kurds, now governed by the Kurdistan Regional Government, face a crossroads in the political trajectory of Iraqi Kurdistan. Kurdish diversity and factions, the KRG relationship with the United States, Iraq's central government, and neighboring countries, previous political agreements, disputed territories, and Kurdish ethnonationalism all affect Iraqi Kurds.
context_section_description: A major weakness of Kurdish national cohesiveness has been the strength of tribal and regional factions, often resulting in strong breaks between political parties. The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), founded by Masoud Barzani, leans toward conservative nationalism and has a strong presence in the north. Given their geographic location, they have historically relied on Turkey for international leverage. Jalal Talabani's Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) has aligned itself with Marxist ideals during their liberation struggle and has a stronghold in the southern Iraqi Kurdistan. They have tended to seek support from Iran and Syria. Throughout the 1990s a continuous power struggle ensued over political representation in parliament and oil revenues, resulting in an armed conflict in 1994. Fighting again broke out in 1996,  the KDP looked for assistance from the central Iraqi government and the PUK sought out support for the United States. This clash divided the two rival zones into "Barzanistan" and "Talabanistan", establishing two administrations, cabinets, parliaments, and state flags. Political party infighting ruined a chance for the Kurdish peoples to unify and establish an autonomous state, completely separate from the Iraqi central government. Within a factionalized atmosphere, other groups established a presence, such as the Turkey-based Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), radical Islamist groups, and other Turkish political groups. The PKK has been a major party seeking state autonomy and cultural, linguistic, and ethnic rights for Kurds in Turkey.
  Kurdish leaders in Iraq have pushed for the prosperity of divided local governments rather than an independent state; this is because leadership is derived from tribal legitimacy, rather than political institutions. Talabani and Barzani, for instance, did not come from the most populous Kurdish tribe, but rather from well-organized tribes. This could be an inhibitor to democracy in the region since those trying to preserve the status quo hold power but do not represent the majority.
  From 1986 to the present, Turkey has held different alliances with the KDP and PUK parties of Iraqi Kurdistan. Turkey has protected the KDP from the PKK and PUK. Turkey has also attacked the political parties PUK and PKK, while keeping good relations with the KDP, partially for access to cheap Iraqi oil. The KDP holds the representation of tribes along the Turkish border, so favorable relations with them ensures trading for Iraqi goods. Turkey then shifted its relationships to favor the PUK party. Since this party sat in the southern region of northern Iraq, it had stronger relations with the central Iraqi government. After the independence referendum of 2017 the relations between Turkey and political parties in the KRG cooled down.
caption: KDP and PUK-controlled areas of Kurdistan
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