Turkey’s changing relations with the Iraqi Kurdish regional government

Since the Iraqi Kurdish rebellion in the early 1960s, Turkish policymakers have perceived Kurdish autonomy in northern Iraq as a major threat to the country's national security, fearing that the Iraqi Kurdish experience would encourage Turkey 's Kurds to take similar steps towards autonomy and even independence. However, from the mid-2000s onwards, Turkey's relationship with the Iraqi Kurdish Regional Government has improved tremendously. This dramatic change has been driven, first, by the growing Turkish economy's search for new markets and new energy sources; second, by the government's flexible approach toward the Kurdish question; and third, by the rise of the Democratic Union Party in Syrian Kurdish politics.