Kurdishpatriot
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[h=1]Barzani: Kurdistan Independence Will Come[/h] The unity of Iraq cannot be enforced, says President Barzani
The Kurdistan Region President, in his first and only public statement from the US capital, has said that the issue of independence for the Kurdistan Region will be addressed in time. The only reason a referendum has yet to take place, he said, was the ongoing conflict with Islamic State (IS).
‘I cannot predict whether it will be next year or when, but certainly Kurdistan will achieve independence,’ said Masoud Barzani from Washington, where this week he is attending a series of closed-door meetings with the Obama administration, his first trip to the US in four years.
At an event hosted by the Atlantic Council and the US Institute of Peace on Wednesday, the KRG President said his people want to achieve independence peacefully, adding that his government has delayed holding a referendum while it fights IS.
“Right now our country is in a fight against IS. The fight is not over, and that’s why the issue of referendum has been delayed. Of course the referendum will eventually take place.”
Barzani pointed out the success of the Kurdish Peshmerga over IS, stressing that the organisation must be eradicated from the region. To realise this goal, he insisted that further international support for the Peshmerga is required.
A push for independence could damage Baghdad interests on two fronts – the Kurdistan Region has oil reserves that have only recently come online and are a long way from being fully exploited, and a split from Iraq could green light a greater fragmentation of the country.
Barzani briefly addressed Turkey’s ongoing efforts to broker a peace accord with the Kurdish fighters of Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in the country, Barzani said that a solution is “an important part” of Erbil’s relationship with Ankara.
“We hope that a peaceful solution can be found to the Kurdish question in Turkey,” he said.
Returning to the conflict, Barzani pointed out that the Kurdish Peshmerga forces have been instrumental in many of Baghdad’s successes in the ongoing effort to push IS out of the roughly one-third of the country under the militants’ control.
They are likely to play a critical role in an anticipated offensive to recapture Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city, which has been under IS control since government forces withdrew last June.
“So long as the terrorists of IS are in Mosul, they will be a direct threat to the Kurdistan region,” Barzani said, adding that they will also be a threat to the whole of Iraq and the wider Middle East. “We will do whatever we can in order to help liberate Mosul.”
“IS was quite sure that they could easily implement their agenda in the region. However, they soon realised that the Peshmerga are their biggest obstacle to achieving their evil intentions.”
The Kurdistan Region has found itself having to deal with a humanitarian crisis, as refugees from Syria and internally displaced Iraqis strain limited resources.
“There are currently more than one million refugees taking shelters in the Kurdistan Region, among them 250,000 from Syria. This has put heavy economic pressure on the Kurdistan Region Government (KRG). Just in Dohuk Province, for example, the number of refugees exceeds the number of original residents of the city.”
President Barzani added, “Regardless of the challenges and limited resources we have, we will continue helping displaced people in Kurdistan. However the situation is now so critical that international aid is urgently needed in the region.
“At the very beginning when IS emerged in the region, I sat down with all Iraqi minorities; Christians, Turkmen and Yazidis. I encouraged them not to leave the country but stay with us and fight the terrorists to the end.”
The KRG President gave further details of the situation in Iraq, where Peshmerga forces have a frontline of 1,500 kilometres.
“We are honoured that our brave Peshmerga have defeated IS not only in Iraq but also in Syria, by going to Kobani to save our Kurdish people from brutality of IS.”
“The fight is ongoing and the US-led coalition airstrikes have made a great contribution to our success. However, the Peshmerga are in need of more military support in terms of modern weapons, ammunition and training to fight such a well-equipped terrorist organisation.”
The relationship between the Iraqi central government and the KRG was also discussed in the panel discussion. “Even though some problems are remain unsolved, we have maintained a good relationship and level of understanding with Baghdad, and we are seeing some goodwill from the new Iraqi cabinet.
“We have signed a deal with Baghdad regarding oil exports that commits the KRG to exporting 550,000 barrels per day through the Iraqi State Organization for Oil Marketing (SOMO). In return Baghdad will pay our 17% from the Iraqi national budget,” President Barzani said.
“We have done our best to prevent terrorists making further advances, and now I’m calling on Iraqis to stand shoulder to shoulder to fight and drive out the militants. The unity of the people is a prerequisite to the unity of the country.
“We will absolutely continue our efforts to live together peacefully but this does not mean we will allow anyone to deprive us from exercising our God-given self-determination rights. The referendum must take place, but for now our priority is to keep away the IS threat from the country.”
Barzani continued “Once the IS threat is downplayed in Iraq, we will legally start working on our national cause to determine our future. The KRG Parliament has already approved a bill to form a new high independent commission for elections in Kurdistan.”
The President concluded, “We understand that the fight is extremely costly but we will never surrender. Regardless of the consequences, we will keep struggling as we have to win this war eventually.”
The Kurdistan Region President, in his first and only public statement from the US capital, has said that the issue of independence for the Kurdistan Region will be addressed in time. The only reason a referendum has yet to take place, he said, was the ongoing conflict with Islamic State (IS).
‘I cannot predict whether it will be next year or when, but certainly Kurdistan will achieve independence,’ said Masoud Barzani from Washington, where this week he is attending a series of closed-door meetings with the Obama administration, his first trip to the US in four years.
At an event hosted by the Atlantic Council and the US Institute of Peace on Wednesday, the KRG President said his people want to achieve independence peacefully, adding that his government has delayed holding a referendum while it fights IS.
“Right now our country is in a fight against IS. The fight is not over, and that’s why the issue of referendum has been delayed. Of course the referendum will eventually take place.”
Barzani pointed out the success of the Kurdish Peshmerga over IS, stressing that the organisation must be eradicated from the region. To realise this goal, he insisted that further international support for the Peshmerga is required.
A push for independence could damage Baghdad interests on two fronts – the Kurdistan Region has oil reserves that have only recently come online and are a long way from being fully exploited, and a split from Iraq could green light a greater fragmentation of the country.
Barzani briefly addressed Turkey’s ongoing efforts to broker a peace accord with the Kurdish fighters of Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in the country, Barzani said that a solution is “an important part” of Erbil’s relationship with Ankara.
“We hope that a peaceful solution can be found to the Kurdish question in Turkey,” he said.
Returning to the conflict, Barzani pointed out that the Kurdish Peshmerga forces have been instrumental in many of Baghdad’s successes in the ongoing effort to push IS out of the roughly one-third of the country under the militants’ control.
They are likely to play a critical role in an anticipated offensive to recapture Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city, which has been under IS control since government forces withdrew last June.
“So long as the terrorists of IS are in Mosul, they will be a direct threat to the Kurdistan region,” Barzani said, adding that they will also be a threat to the whole of Iraq and the wider Middle East. “We will do whatever we can in order to help liberate Mosul.”
“IS was quite sure that they could easily implement their agenda in the region. However, they soon realised that the Peshmerga are their biggest obstacle to achieving their evil intentions.”
The Kurdistan Region has found itself having to deal with a humanitarian crisis, as refugees from Syria and internally displaced Iraqis strain limited resources.
“There are currently more than one million refugees taking shelters in the Kurdistan Region, among them 250,000 from Syria. This has put heavy economic pressure on the Kurdistan Region Government (KRG). Just in Dohuk Province, for example, the number of refugees exceeds the number of original residents of the city.”
President Barzani added, “Regardless of the challenges and limited resources we have, we will continue helping displaced people in Kurdistan. However the situation is now so critical that international aid is urgently needed in the region.
“At the very beginning when IS emerged in the region, I sat down with all Iraqi minorities; Christians, Turkmen and Yazidis. I encouraged them not to leave the country but stay with us and fight the terrorists to the end.”
The KRG President gave further details of the situation in Iraq, where Peshmerga forces have a frontline of 1,500 kilometres.
“We are honoured that our brave Peshmerga have defeated IS not only in Iraq but also in Syria, by going to Kobani to save our Kurdish people from brutality of IS.”
“The fight is ongoing and the US-led coalition airstrikes have made a great contribution to our success. However, the Peshmerga are in need of more military support in terms of modern weapons, ammunition and training to fight such a well-equipped terrorist organisation.”
The relationship between the Iraqi central government and the KRG was also discussed in the panel discussion. “Even though some problems are remain unsolved, we have maintained a good relationship and level of understanding with Baghdad, and we are seeing some goodwill from the new Iraqi cabinet.
“We have signed a deal with Baghdad regarding oil exports that commits the KRG to exporting 550,000 barrels per day through the Iraqi State Organization for Oil Marketing (SOMO). In return Baghdad will pay our 17% from the Iraqi national budget,” President Barzani said.
“We have done our best to prevent terrorists making further advances, and now I’m calling on Iraqis to stand shoulder to shoulder to fight and drive out the militants. The unity of the people is a prerequisite to the unity of the country.
“We will absolutely continue our efforts to live together peacefully but this does not mean we will allow anyone to deprive us from exercising our God-given self-determination rights. The referendum must take place, but for now our priority is to keep away the IS threat from the country.”
Barzani continued “Once the IS threat is downplayed in Iraq, we will legally start working on our national cause to determine our future. The KRG Parliament has already approved a bill to form a new high independent commission for elections in Kurdistan.”
The President concluded, “We understand that the fight is extremely costly but we will never surrender. Regardless of the consequences, we will keep struggling as we have to win this war eventually.”
