Yes and not only Iraq but also Turkey and Iran fear the Kurds and the Kurdish people!!
I started researching this topic due to another thread from this morning.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3589575/posts
Northern Syria answers Damascus: We are ready for negotiations (After ISIS, real deal?)
My Post was:
Per Wiki:
The number of Kurds living in Southwest Asia is estimated at close to 30 million, with another one or two million living in diaspora.
Kurds comprise anywhere from 18% to 20% of the population in Turkey,[1] possibly as high as 25%;[39] 15 to 20% in Iraq;[1] 10% in Iran;[1] and 9% in Syria.[1][40] Kurds form regional majorities in all four of these countries, viz. in Turkish Kurdistan, Iraqi Kurdistan, Iranian Kurdistan and Syrian Kurdistan. The Kurds are the fourth largest ethnic group in West Asia after the Arabs, Persians, and Turks.
The total number of Kurds in 1991 was placed at 22.5 million, with 48% of this number living in Turkey, 18% in Iraq, 24% in Iran, and 4% in Syria.[41]
Recent emigration accounts for a population of close to 1.5 million in Western countries, about half of them in Germany.