CONTEMPORARY EURASIA VOLUME VI (1) Contemporary-Eurasia-VI-1-engl | Page 121

CONTEMPORARY EURASIA VI (1)
important taking into account decades of experience he gained
during both scientific and diplomatic work.
I have already formulated my approaches to this issue and stated
it publicly. I am sure that the independence referendum must be
observed as a step in the long path of the establishment of Kurdish
state and the significance of it must not be overestimated.
At the same time I think that the Kurdish factor will become
more significant and and there is a potential of further escalation in
the geopolitical rivalry in the Middle East between global and
regional actors. In my opinion, to some extent it is similar to the
geopolitical struggle between the British Empire and Russian
Empire in the 19 th century, which is often is described as The Great
Game.
The escalation of geopolitical conflict will affect the Kurdish
factor and the developments around it will become more interesting
for scientists and at the same time difficult to predict. I think that
we will have further discussions on this topic”.
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