... Kremlin has been lobbying Russian firms operating in Iraq with exceptional results. For example, Gazprom Neft is surveying in Iraqi Kurdistan and has managed to enlist the effective cooperation from its government. At the same time, it is developing the Badra project jointly with Baghdad. Credit should certainly go to Russian top officials who displayed outstanding diplomatic skills in engaging both Iraqi and Kurdish leaders during their visits ...
... prevailing in the Middle East and elsewhere affects the policies of regional and global powers alike. Russia is no exception. In recent years, Moscow has taken steps to develop contacts with Kurdish political movements and establish economic cooperation with Iraqi Kurdistan, where Russian oil and gas companies have set up shop. The February 2013 visit to Russia by Kurdistan Regional Government President Massoud Barzani, dubbed by the Kurdish people as the “first official visit,” served as a significant milestone in ...
... Zhyldyz Oskonbaeva (RIEAS Senior Advisor & Eurasian Liaison)
On a number of levels, the situation between the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and the ethnic Kurds of Syria, Iraq and Turkey is creating a power shift that no one is discussing. In this ... ... political homeland; 2) Tehran's strategy of expanding Shia influence over the Sunnis is possible because of an independent Kurdistan; 3) Moscow is orchestrating an independent Kurdistan and 4) Turkey's recalcitrance against the United States ...
