Isn't Sykes-Pico Agreement Viable Anymore?

• 02.08.2016, 09:40
•  Near East,  World

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Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), said that the future independence of Iraqi Kurdistan will further complicate the situation in the region by artificially separated boundaries under the 1916 Sykes-Picot agreement. "The formation of new states will lead only to the further development of the artificial agenda formed by Sykes-Picot agreement" said a spokesman for the AKP Omer Celik, commenting on the Iraqi Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani's statement that the time has come to hold a referendum on the independence of Iraqi Kurdistan. Celik said that they must work within the limits of peaceful coexistence and integration of different ethnic groups, Hurriyet reports.

It should be noted that, recently, Barzani has repeatedly stated that the borders between states in the Middle East must be reviewed, because Sykes-Picot agreement is no longer viable. "At present the new borders in the Middle East are drawn with blood" Barzani said to "Al Hayat" newspaper in an interview. In an interview with the British Guardian,Barzani urged world leaders to work out a new agreement instead of Sykes-Picot, which will enable the creation of an independent Kurdistan. "We have to sign a new agreement. It is illogical to continue or repeat the failure" Barzani said.

It should be noted that the Sykes-Picot agreement was signed in London between Great Britain and France on May 16, 1916 (draft agreement was prepared by the British and French diplomats Marc Sykes and George Picot, hence the "Sykes-Pico" name).

According to the agreement, Britain confirmed its control over Iraq and Jordan, as well as Haifa, and France got the southeastern regions of Turkey, northern Iraq, Syria and Lebanon. In Palestine it was intended to establish an international control. Later this agreement became the basis for the establishment of the "national states" of Middle East.