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.

If Kurdistan is truly going to become a new Dubai or Bahrain and bolster its wealth and living standards to first world levels, it must rein in corruption or change the leadership which refuses to do so.

Every Kurdish official, foreign businessman, or diplomat, knows that regional leader Masud Barzani and his immediate family have far greater power than Kurdistan’s constitution indicates.

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.

The failure of Kurdish leaders to fulfill their diplomatic agenda extends beyond the latest Turkish incursion. Turkey's occupations, however, provide the Kurdistan Regional Government with an opportunity.

If Iraqi Kurdish leaders had the power to prevent the Turks from acquiring the tools of massacre but did not, they should be willing to explain why, or be forced to acknowledge they use the rhetoric of Kurdish empowerment insincerely.

Iraqi Kurds and Iraqis more broadly can argue about whether Western concerns about Iran’s nuclear program are justified and they can also debate responsibility for the recent tension between Tehran and Washington. Analysts—whether they are in Washington, Jerusalem, or Tehran—largely agree, however, that the Middle East is closer to a major war now than at any time since 2003.

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.