WI: Iraq partitioned

Could see Iraq partitioned earlier with a few PODs involving the Sazonov part of the original Sykes-Picot agreement managing to be realized allowing for a Russian mandate to be established in Western Armenia, Assyria and the Kurdish areas of OTL Iraq / Syria / Turkey (via a better performance by Russia in WW1 followed by a territorially screwed post-war Turkey).

Persia would probably attempt to invade the Shia part, while the British would either attempt to keep it independent or in the event of a successful British-backed Sheikh Khazal rebellion merge it with an independent Shia Arabistan (aka OTL Khuzestan Province).
Under the original agreement Southern Iraq was be under British control and even if it wasn't it would likely be under British influence. Iran also just came out of major famine

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persian_famine_of_1917–1919


sykes1.gif
 
The Iraq insurgency post 2003 shows just how sectarian Iraq was. Cleansing on the basis of sunni versus shia occured.
You can thank the United States of America for that. Since the US put in power avowed secretarian and ethnic supremacists. Despite being told that was a bad idea.

http://america.aljazeera.com/opinions/2014/8/iraq-sectarianismshiassunniskurdsnourialmalaki.html

www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/15/AR2007051501322.html?noredirect=on
 

BigBlueBox

Banned
What’s stopping Turkey from telling them to fuck off to Kurdistan and telling them they’re not giving up any land?
The Austro-Hungarians probably tried telling that to the Italians in Trentino, the Serbs in Bosnia and Vovjodina, and the Romanians in Transylvania. It didn’t work so well. Piedmontisation is a real danger.
 
What’s stopping Turkey from telling them to fuck off to Kurdistan and telling them they’re not giving up any land?

Ironically, that may ACTUALLY be the arrangement between Turkey and Kurdistan - Kurdistan could serve as a safety valve for Turkey's more troubled members of the growing Kurdish population in Turkey, while Kurdistan, likely taking a bigger chunk of Iraq, will need the extra Kurds to assimilate them.
 
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