After years of war, oppression, and uncertainty, Iraqi Kurds have reason for optimism. The Kurdistan Regional Government has sold international companies rights for exploitation and development of the region's petroleum resources.

The Balkanization of Kurdistan impacted university development. As a result many universities in Kurdistan have suffered and are not providing a quality education to their students.

Under the leadership of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Foreign Minister Ahmet Davatoğlu, Turkey has pursued a policy of good relations with all its neighbors. Well, almost. If Turkey wishes to join Europe or simply have diplomatic credibility in the region, it must end its occupation in Iraqi Kurdistan now.

Once again, as in Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya, the Obama administration's silence has consequences.

Kurdistan has made incredible progress and enjoys sympathy from the West, but the murder of a 23-year-old journalist threatens to undermine the region's promising future.

If Erdogan believes it is up to any state and any region to choose its own name, then no longer should the Turkish government complain when diplomats and officials speak of the Kurdistan Regional Government, Iraqi Kurdistan, or even South Kurdistan.

U.S. sympathy to Kurdistan is understandable but is increasingly based on a myth.

Iraqi Kurdistan will always be weaker than Turkey and, to officials in Washington, it will always be less important than Turkey so long as Turkey remains in NATO. Still, the Kurdistan Regional Government can seize diplomatic initiative and perhaps protect its own people and force Turkey to moderate its actions, if only Kurdish leaders would play their hand more skillfully.