ORSAM REVIEW OF REGIONAL AFFAIRS NO.51, SEPTEMBER 2016 Dr. Othman Ali is Professor of Modern History of Kurds at Salahaddin University in Erbil. He earned his undergraduate and master’s degrees from University of Guelph and University of Toronto. He can read, write and speak English, Arabic, Turkish, and Kurdish fuently, can read French, Farsi and Ottoman Turkish. He is currently a research fellow at the Middle East Institute of Sakarya University. Te Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), which is the second most powerful military and political power in the Iraqi Kurdistan Regi- onal Government of Iraq (KRG), has recently witnessed serious in- ternal cracks. Political observers believe that this may have serious consequences for the KRG and the neighboring countries. In this report, the roots of the crisis will be examined. It is assumed that the struggle for power, oil, and Iran’s policy moves in KRG are the main factors which have triggered this division within PUK. Othman Ali THE ROLE OF POWER, OIL AND IRAN IN PATRIOTIC UNION OF KURDISTAN’S IN-FIGHTING No.51, SEPTEMBER 2016 ORSAM REVIEW OF REGIONAL AFFAIRS