[3][4] The ideology emerged after the abolition of the Caliphate and the creation of Turkey, which angered many Kurds, who felt that their culture, religion, language, and people were endangered because of Atatürk's reforms.
[5] The ideology was also reactionary to the Turkish–Islamic synthesis which emerged during the late Ottoman Empire, as "the Kurdish religious leaders became aware that the Turks had used Islamic symbols and sentiments in favour of their nationalist aims, so they tried to do the same".
Mullah Krekar is also a populist, and his popularity in Iraqi Kurdistan rose between 2017 and 2019, mainly among the youth who were against the Kurdish government.
In the late 1990s, the IMK was incorporated into the KRG, and the emirate was unstable until Mullah Krekar seized control in 2001, declaring independence and founding Ansar al-Islam.
When both the emirate and Ansar al-Islam were dissolved following Operation Viking Hammer, Mullah Krekar claimed that the PUK had no nationalism.
He also claimed that if the Islamic Emirate of Kurdistan lived longer, Ansar al-Islam would have invaded Turkey.
"[18] In 2013, Altan Tan claimed that the "Kurdish-Islamic synthesis" was an excuse made by Turkish–Islamic synthesists to justify them "using Islam to paint their own empire and hegemony.