Iraqi government forces have captured key installations outside the disputed city of Kirkuk from Kurdish fighters, in what threatens to be a new conflict in Iraq. Both sides are seen as Western allies since the Kurds were key to defeating ISIS. The Kurds recently voted for independence; the Iraqi government wants the oilfields and a unified country.
An additional complication is that Iraqi Kurds see themselves as part of Greater Kurdistan, territories of which are in Turkey, Syria and Iran, so a Kurdish victory in Iraq could de-stabilise the whole of the Middle East. The carve up of the defunct Ottoman Empire by the Brit and French super-powers of the day during WW1 took no account of ethnic identities with arbitrary lines being drawn on maps – the consequences of which are still the cause of unrest 100 years later.
Dates are hard to come by though the Iraqi Kurdistan did become a semi-autonomous region on 11 March 1970, which didn’t hold as another war broke out, and a further rebellion in the 1980s which was brutally put down. That chart looks blocked this year; but making some headway in 2018/19 with tr Pluto sextile the Sun; with a fair amount of turmoil in 2019 as tr Uranus is conjunct the Mars Saturn and opposition Jupiter, bringing setbacks and highs.
Masoud Barzani, the President of the Iraqi Kurds, 16 August 1946, has a Leo Sun on the midpoint of a Jupiter in Libra trine Uranus; with Saturn Mercury Pluto in Leo sextile Mars, Neptune, Venus in Libra – a mix of tough-minded, lucky, adventurous, lucky and stubborn. He’s not winning much for a couple of years; but could start to see results around 2020.
The Iraq 23 August 1921 6am Baghdad chart, does show this year as a crisis point with the August Leo Eclipse closely conjunct the Iraq Leo Sun; and the Solar Arc MC opposition the 7th house Uranus, which is an apt description of rebellions and splits. It’ll be a long haul out of the present mire but 2019/2020 might give some hope with tr Pluto trine the Iraq Jupiter, though it’ll be a stop-start, one step forwards one step backwards process, since tr Pluto then moves to trine the Saturn in 2020/2021 for a tough struggle.
I recall the Brits and the French appreciated nice, straight lines for borders. No borders running along rivers, mountain slopes, shallow canyons. Gee, what if…all the old borders…came back to be…?
I think that is the Arab hope – that the Sykes-Picot agreement (behind closed doors) of 1916 is finally despatched to a footnote in history. But it would turn the Middle East into even more of a melting pot than ever. If the West and Russia would just step back within their own borders and stop interfering it might help.
Thanks angel !