So the Kurds refused to fly the Iraq flag:

quote:

Dispute over Iraqi flag continues Baghdad- Iraqi President Jalal Talabani on Monday criticised a decision by Kurds to lower the Iraqi flag and replace it with the Kurdish one over government buildings in the Kurdish semi- autonomous regions. The decision to hoist a new flag "is malicious and has an aggressive and a hostile undertone," a statement said. The president of Iraqi Kurdistan, Massoud Barzani, has banned the Iraqi national flag from government buildings and on Sunday threatened to declare the region's independence. Kurds associate the Iraqi national flag with Saddam Hussein's hated Baath party, which is accused of committing grave crimes against the Kurdish minority in 1988. Talabani, himself a Kurd, has proposed the designing of a new Iraqi national flag as a way out of the dispute. However according to the statement Monday, the idea of a new flag has been discussed in the Iraqi Assembly but has not yet been finalized. A new flag has to be accredited and approved by parliament. The Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki had issued a statement Sunday declaring that the present Iraqi flag should be the only one raised in Iraq.

(Source)

And now they threaten to jump ship:

quote:

Kurds threaten to secede from Iraq Arbil: The leader of the Kurdish region in the north of Iraq threatened secession on Sunday as a dispute over flying the Iraqi flag intensified. Masoud Barzani, president of the Kurdish region, on Friday ordered the country's national flag to be replaced with the Kurdish one. His decision sparked harsh words in Baghdad. "If we want to separate, we will do it, without hesitation or fears," Barzani said during an address to parliament. Barzani launched a scathing attack on Iraqi Arab leaders on Sunday over their opposition to his order banning the national flag from public buildings. "Those who condemn it are chauvinists, escaping from internal problems," Barzani told members of the Kurdish regional parliament. He tempered his comments by saying that Kurdish leaders have already voted to remain in a united Iraq, but his statement was likely to inflame government leaders in Baghdad, who fear the Kurds are pushing for independence from the rest of Iraq. The Kurdish region gradually has been gaining more autonomy since the 2003 US-led invasion, a worrying development to many Iraqi leaders, especially Sunni Arabs. If the Kurds were to become independent along with the Shiite majority in the oil-rich south, the Sunnis would be left with little more than date groves and sand. Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki issued a terse statement on Sunday, saying that only the national flag should be hoisted throughout the country. "The current Iraqi flag is the only one which must be hoisted on each bit of Iraq's land until a decision is adopted by the parliament according to the constitution," the statement from his office said. It did not directly mention the flag dispute. On Saturday, Sunni Arab lawmaker Saleh Al Mutlaq slammed Barzani's decision. "What will be taken by force today, will be returned by force another day," he said, without elaborating. "We can defend our dignity, our people and our land ... and no one should be under the illusion that he could take a tiny bit of somebody else's land." Speaking to parliament, Barzani said the national flag does not represent Iraqis. He said the Kurds would use an early version of the Iraqi flag that was flown after the end of the monarchy in 1958. The Kurdish area had been out of Saddam Hussain's control since the 1991 Gulf War, when the Kurds set up their autonomous region under the protection of US and British warplanes. Iraq's new constitution recognises Kurdish self-rule and provides a legal mechanism for other areas to govern themselves but within the Iraqi state.

(Source)

I've gotta hand it to the Kurds: They sure know when to make their move. With practically every player in the region held up in other conflicts, and the US at its weakest in years, they have a pretty good chance of carrying it off. Of course, a clean break from the remaining Iraq will sure add to the troubles in that region. Having lost the North, the Sunnis will probably not accept the Shia sitting on all the remaining riches of the country. Oh yeah, and of course there's Turkey to worry about :

quote:

Turkish foreign minister says flying Kurdish flag in northern Iraq 'dangerous' ISTANBUL, Turkey Turkey's foreign minister warned the leader of the Kurdish region in the north of Iraq on Monday that his decision to replace the Iraqi flag with the Kurdish one was "dangerous." Abdullah Gul also said the Iraqi government had to take action against the order given by Massoud Barzani, which was interpreted by many as a symbolic step toward the separation of the Kurdish region from the rest of the country. "Those who are doing this must see how dangerous this course is," Gul said in an interview with private NTV television. "If Iraq is willing to accept a flag that is not its own to fly on its own territory, it's over." Turkey neighbors Iraq, has its own large and restive Kurdish population and is wary of any separatist moves among Iraqi Kurds, fearing they could encourage Turkey's estimated 14 million Kurds to join their Iraqi counterparts in a fight for an independent state. Gul said the Iraqi government's response to the flag declaration — which was accompanied by a blunt threat of secession — had been strong, but more needed to be done. "It cannot just be words," Gul said. The Kurdish region of Iraq has gradually been gaining more autonomy since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, a worrying development to Turks and many Iraqi leaders, especially Sunni Arabs. If the Kurds were to become independent along with the Shiite majority in the oil-rich south, the Sunnis would be left with almost nothing. Turkey's own fight with homegrown Kurdish separatists has killed more than 37,000 people since 1984, when the rebels took up arms against the state in their fight for greater autonomy.

I wonder if this will help the world sympathize with the suppressed Kurds in Turkey - in the same passionate way it sympathizes with the Palestinians...