Just a world map for an old Kurdistan-wank I made.
BACKSTORY:
Starting in 1981, following the Iranian Revolution, the new more aggressive US government under Reagan decides to strike back with their NATO allies against the theocratic regime by funding terrorist cells in Iranian Kurdistan. The move is highly successful, leading to Iranian Kurdistan going into full revolt against the government in Tehran.
The US also pays Iraq to invade Iran earlier, supplying them with large amounts of military equipment. The Kurdish-Iraqi alliance against Iran seems successful, capturing Tehran and executing the ayatollah.
Unfortunately, the alliance crumbles almost immediately as Iraq attempts to reimpose control over Kurdish areas in both countries. Seeing this as a betrayal, the heavily nationalized Kurds revolt and expel the Iraqi troops from their territory. By 1985, Kurdistan (having used oil stability to convince NATO to turn a blind eye) has Iraq under total occupation, with Iran in the hands of a coalition of Iranian Kurds, Iranian Liberals, and NATO forces.
The blatant imperialism by western and Kurdish forces leads to hostility between Kurdistan and the neighbouring Arab states. Hoping to gain leverage, Israel aligns itself with Kurdistan and together they provoke the Arabs into open war. Kurdistan captures Kuwait quickly in the winter of 1988, overrunning it in a Blitzkrieg-Style attack identical to the one done by Real-World Iraq, and promptly proclaimed the Kurdish Empire. This aggression causes NATO to stop supporting Kurdistan, and subsequently, they begin funding the Arab states.
The young Russian Federation (better off in this timeline due to Chinese-style capitalist reforms), is eager to step in to help the Kurds. By 1991, Kurdistan, Israel, and their supporters, Russia and India are in full war with Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria, and the Gulf. In 1992 the situation turns even more dire when Turkey joins the anti-Kurdish coalition to quell their own Kurdish minority. Pakistan subsequently joins the war to support their ally. The “
The Great Gulf War” now has several new players:
The Anti-Kurdish Coalition: Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Turkey and Pakistan. Has minor NATO support,.
AND
The Kurdish Empire and allies: Israel, Russia and India.
Kurdish client states:
- Republic of Persia
- Ethnic Satellites of Luristan and Mashriq
- North Arabia (conquered by Israel/Kurds)
In 1993 the Gulf States and Oman join their armies for a massive invasion of Persia, calling on the local Arab minority for support. The resulting territory gained becomes the Gulf client of Arabistan, which fights against Persia.
In 1994 Egypt joins the Kurds, striking a deal with it and Russia for lower oil and food prices to feed their booming population. Together, Syria and Jordan are quickly knocked out of the war.
Greece joins the war against fellow NATO member Turkey over provocations, causing a fissure in the entire alliance. As NATO turns inward and also towards Yugoslavia, the Kurds and Allies secure Cyprus, finally reuniting it with Greece, and use it for a staging ground to invade Turkey.
The war in the Arab peninsula is a stalemate, while Turkey is stormed and bombed by Russian and Greek fighters. Kurds in Turkey revolt and march on Ankara, overthrowing the regime and establishing a Kurdish Ethnocratic state with the support of Greece, Russia, and India.
By 1996 Kurdistan has solidified its hold over Turkey, Iran, and Mashriq.
By 1997 a cease-fire has been reached, brokered by NATO. Much of the oil is firmly in Kurdish hands, leading to a boom in industry and population.
The truce lasts for a decade. By 2008, following the global financial crisis, Kurdish nationalists win the election and spurt anti-Arab rhetoric, gaining support from the non-Arab client states in the process.
A series of minor skirmishes result in another full-blown war, with Israel and Russia once again providing support. Mossad triggers several insurrections against Saudi rule in Saudi Arabia in the process. Kurdistan and Persia recapture Arabistan by 2009, but ultimately decide not to incorporate it into Persia to avoid alienating the local Arabs. Fundamentalists in West Arabia form the Muslim Holy State, similar to ISIS. They hold Mecca and Medina as bargaining chips and employ a Jihad against the corrupt Saudis with the backing of Mossad.
Pakistan joins in to support the Arabs and threatens the Kurds and Israelis with nuclear weapons.
Following mounting tensions, Israel nukes Pakistan in 2011 and Pakistan retaliates. Both nations are crippled, with India assaulting Pakistan in the fallout for the sake of security.
Kurdish and Russian troops move into Israel for similar purposes. The US and NATO begin bombing campaigns of Kurdish oil fields, but Greece refuses to participate making bombing runs significantly more difficult. Elsewhere, NATO is distracted by a renewed Korean War and Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The anti-Kurdish oalition finally collapses in early 2012, lacking the resources to continue after Persia cuts off the strait. Kurdish client states are established in the former Arab states, with the radical Muslim Holy State being brought to submission through diplomacy.
Israel is repopulated by Arabs, as most Jews flee the fallout for Europe and North America, creating the free state of Cis-Jordan which is openly hostile to Kurdistan but not a threat because of its near wasteland environment.
India formally annexes Pakistan as the "Military Territory for the Occupied Pakistani Regions", the other stans of Central Asia unite to form the Federation of Turkestan to counter Kurdish, Indian and Russian aggression.
Kurdistan and Russia launch a new Eurasian Union, bringing in all the client states of Kurdistan and Russia as well for a new sphere rivalling NATO and dominating oil production.
In 2018 Kurdistan and Russia compose one of the four superpowers of this world (NATO, Eurasian Union, India, China) and dominate the Gulf, supplying most of the world with oil.