Iraq/Kurdistan: How a Russian Oil Giant Bankrolled the Kurdish Split from Iraq

Oct 6, 2017 | Greg Walters, VICE News
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Virtually no one in the international community wanted Kurdistan to vote for independence. Yet Kurdistan’s President Masoud Barzani appeared unfazed. He pushed forward on his people’s long-held dream of an independent state and held the vote. One reason: The people demanded it, with 93 percent ultimately choosing to support independence. But another significant — and overlooked — factor, was the economic lifeline extended by another world power who’d otherwise remained notably neutral: Russia.