Saddam attempted to "Arabize" the area during the 1970s and '80s, forcing Kurds from their homes, and importing Arabs.
NPR: Autonomy, Oil Money Underlie Kurdish Goals in Iraq
2.
The expressed purpose of these racist policies has been to prevent territorial contiguity between Syrian, Iraqi and Turkish Kurds and to "Arabize" Syrian Kurdistan where most of Syria's oil deposits are located.