Kurdistan’s lack of effective leadership “hurts” its peoples’ cause, U.S. academic Michael Rubin has written. In an op-ed published by 19FortyFive, Rubin argues that the Barzani-Talabani rivalry “blighted the Kurdish cause”, and for KDP leader Masoud Barzani, “family fortune trumps Kurdish nationalism.”
Rubin added that rivalries within the Barzani and Talabani families have held Kurdistan back, assessing that “Masrour hates cousin Nechirvan and constantly seeks to undermine or marginalize him” and that “Bafil and Qubad Talabani feel likewise about cousin Lahur.”
