BAGHDAD PACT

   Formally known as the Middle East Treaty Organization, this Cold War, anti-Soviet alliance was created in 1955 with Great Britain, Iraq, Iran, Turkey, and Pakistan as members. Although it was not an official member, the United States also, in effect, participated. The pact's significance for the Kurds was that it also implicitly obligated Iran, Iraq, and Turkey to cooperate on the Kurdish issue, as did the earlier Treaty of Saadabad in 1937.

   The Baghdad Pact became increasingly unpopular in the Arab world because it was seen as an agent of Western imperialism. After Iraq withdrew in 1958, its name was changed to the Central Treaty Organization (CENTO). Increasingly ineffective, CENTO was finally disbanded in 1979 after the shah of Iran was overthrown.