The Kurdish house in the Middle East is rather busy nowadays. Preparations for a new phase of political activism are underway in countries wherever Kurds live.
IRAN
For example the rift between the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI) and the Democratic Party of Kurdistan (DPK) is about to end after six years. In fact the DPK is a splinter of KDPI. Their differences are not that substantial.
Negotiations started with a third party (French) intervention developed to the point of cooperation after a few meetings. More meetings are planned to merge into one single organization. Indeed it is awkward to have two “democratic” parties in Iranian Kurdistan.
For a possible merger the issue of the common name to be adopted has to be settled first. The KDPI demands that the DPK must change its name for a possible merger because the former is the bearer of the tradition of the short lived Kurdish Republic that was founded in 1945 in Mahabad. In any case the process of unification has started. This means a stronger resistance against Teheran. (http://www.rudaw.net/english/kurds/5471.html )
SYRIA
Finally the two main Kurdish groups, namely the People's Council of Western Kurdistan and the Kurdish National Council, which comprises a number of Syrian Kurdish parties, have agreed to join forces in a standoff with Islamist rebels in northern towns of Syria. Of the existing Kurdish political parties in Syria, the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) that has close ties to Turkey's long time enemy Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) have been waging a fierce struggle against the jihadist Al-Nusra Front and allied Ghuraba al-Sham group. The fiercest battles among them have taken place in Ras al-Ain on the border with Turkey, opposite to Ceylanpınar.
Now that Kurdish groups have joined forces they have become a serious force to reckon with both militarily and politically. They can now raise the stakes in the post-Assad bargaining period to gain administrative and economic autonomy (given the fact that there are oil fields in the region).
Rapprochement between Syrian Kurdish forces was mediated by the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) of Iraq in Erbil. This agreement further reinforced the dominant position of the PYD in the People's Council of Western Kurdistan.
The agreement among Syrian Kurds brokered by Erbil was necessitated by the hostile actions of the Free Syrian Army forces that burned Kurdish flags and challenged Kurdish militia. The main rebel elements that have confronted the Kurds are the Al-Nusra Front, Ghuraba al-Sham and the Tawhid Brigade. Kurds do not want these unruly groups in their territory that accuse the Kurds of betraying the revolution and cooperating with Damascus. This is not altogether true but it is correct that Kurds by and large remained neutral and waited for the Assad regime to be brought down by other rebel groups.
There are roughly two million Kurds living in Syria mostly in the north and northeastern parts of the country bordering on Turkey. So any movement associated with the PKK with the aim of autonomy is perceived as a national security threat for Ankara.
(http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/breaking-news/syria-kurds-join-forces-in-rebel-standoff/story-fn3dxix6-)
IRAQ
The Kurdistan Regional Government has been at odds with the federal government in Bagdad for some time. The Kurds have enjoyed the trust of the occupying Americans as their only ally in war. They benefited from this trust with a sound autonomy and economic privileges concerning the exploitation of the carbon hydrate resources in the Kurdish and adjacent territories.
The Iraqi Constitution foresees that Erbil gets 17% of the oil and gas revenues. But the KRG claims that they have benefitted only a fraction of this amount. In return KRG began to give out exploration and exportation rights to foreign companies that Bagdat categorically opposed. A strong Kurdish economy means confidence and sustainability that may pave the way to Kurdish independence.
Furthermore the KRG wants another clause of the Constitution to be put into effect: Census and referendum to decide the fate of the disputed oil rich areas bordering the Kurdish region including the Kirkuk Governate. Bagdat constantly postpones these events and Erbil believes that the majority of these areas are predominantly Kurdish. Annexation of these territories may both strengthen the KRG and make it economically sustainable.
Recently this dispute has escalated to the level of troop displacement and military standoff between the forces of the central government and the KRG Peshmerga in these disputed territories. (http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/337475#ixzz2DLoCA5f1)
In short the new Middle East will shape up with another actor on the stage, namely the Kurds.


Prof. Dr. Doğu Ergil is a Professor of political Science in Fatih University \ Turkey, and also an expert on the Kurdish Question, and he is one of the well-known authors in Turkey.