Kurdistan Between Internal Failure and External Threat

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Chaware Belal – Activist

When a state cannot protect the door of a citizen’s home, claiming “security and stability” becomes nothing more than a polished lie to conceal the weakness of power. Today, the Kurdistan Region is not only facing external threats, but is also internally suffering from institutional paralysis, a salary crisis, political turmoil, and weakened defence, while armed attacks and pressure on its territory continue.

If parliament is paralyzed, governance is run on the basis of party sharing rather than institutions, and people wait months for their salaries, then any external threat becomes even more devastating, because the failure has already begun from within.

When a house is collapsing from the inside, even a light wind from outside can bring it down. Reports indicate that attacks and bombardments across Kurdistan and parts of Iraq often carried out through militia campaigns and drones have caused human losses and fear among residents; in some cases, civilians have been killed. Yet what is more troubling is that in many instances, the official response has been limited to mere “condemnation,” without a clear policy to protect citizens or hold accountable those who turn the land and skies of the Kurdistan Region into arenas of their dominance.

When a government employee is hungry, how can borders be protected? The salary crisis and delayed payments in the Kurdistan Region are not merely economic problems, they represent a fundamental breakdown of trust between citizens and the government. At the same time, they have driven illegal migration and weakened the sense of national belonging. When teachers, employees, and unemployed youth are consumed by concerns over debt, food, and rent, the government cannot expect long-term sacrifice and resilience from them, because a state is not protected by weapons alone, but by the trust of its people.

When the enemy attacks from outside and authority from within occupies the people’s hope, the nation burns between two fires. In recent times, the Region has remained stuck in political deadlock and delays in forming new institutions, and this internal crisis has become a point of weakness against any external threat. A government that cannot pay salaries, reconvene parliament, unify its forces, or protect its citizens from attacks should not present itself as a “government”; it is merely a fragile roof over people’s heads, not a fortress of protection.