by It seems that the two recent independence referenda have largely collapsed. One was in Iraqi Kurdistan, with President Massound Barzani having it done with the eye that it would give him leverage in negotiations with the Iraqi central government. That did not work, with the referendum triggering the central government to move to seize control of the oil producing areas the Kurds had controlled and quite a bit of other territory they had controlled, especially Kirkuk. Barzani had not stepped down two years ago when he was supposed to. Two days ago he announced he will step down from his position. Looks like this is basically over.Then we have Puigdemont, the prime minister of Catalunya/Catalonia. He also put in place a probably badly timed and unwise independence referendum. This
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Then we have Puigdemont, the prime minister of Catalunya/Catalonia. He also put in place a probably badly timed and unwise independence referendum. This was followed up on the weekend by the Catalan parliament voting for independence, even though many polls suggest a majority do not support independence (although a solid majority voted for the independence referendum, with a a low turnout). Now the central government has cancelled the Catalan government and imposed direct central rule. Puigdemont has fled to the Flemish part of Belgium where he has been given asylum. So, it looks like this independence referendum has also ended up as a disaster.
I note that in my earlier posts I expressed more sympathy with the Kurdish declaration, even as it looked like very bad timing for it. I had and have much less sympathy with the Catalan one given the level of autonomy they have over so many areas, with the main effect being a selfish economic result that would have them no longer sending money to poorer parts of Spain. The amount of self-righteousness on their part in regard to this I find pretty indefensible. The Kurds have suffered far more at the hands of those who rule them than have the Catalans, even accounting for the old Franco period when indeed the Catalans did suffer vicious repression, although I do not support violence on the part of the Spanish central government to impose their direct control.
Barkley Rosser