ABSTRACT
This chapter traces the impact of the first Kurdish quasi-state (1961–1975) on the way Iraq governed Kurdistan between 1975 and 1991. If a separatist movement establishes a quasi-state in part of its territory and then that territory is recaptured or reabsorbed, the territory is less likely to be re-administered successfully by the parent state. Iraq governed Kurdistan using four different modus operandi and followed four different policies: symbolic autonomy in the main cities and districts; governing accessible rural areas indirectly through tribal leaders; Arabisation and de-Kurdification policies in Kirkuk; and the ‘Land of the Enemy’ policy in peshmerga controlled areas.
