ABSTRACT
The Iraqi Kurds had gained control of all territories with a substantial Kurdish population outside their nominal jurisdiction. Due to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham threat and the complete failure of the institutions the international community had so far backed in attempts to preserve the unity of the Iraqi state, the supposedly secessionist Kurds, over night, had become a most coveted ally. In the summer of 2014, the Kurdistan Regional Government again traded the pursuit of independence for the role of kingmaker in Baghdad. It seems the price Massoud Barzani demanded for his restraint on secession and for cooperating with the capital in the attempt to form a government of national reconciliation was securing the presidency for the Iraqi Kurds. In the case of Massoud Barzani's token protests, he could ill afford antagonizing Ankara with too outspoken an objection in 2015 as when Turkey's air force had attacked Partiya Karkeren Kurdistan camps on Iraqi Kurdish territory.
