Premier Barzani: Baghdad Needs ‘New Approaches’ in Dealing w
Posted: Sat Aug 17, 2013 1:38 amERBIL, Kurdistan Region – The prime minister of Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan Region Nechirvan Barzani said that leaders in Baghdad remain stuck in a bygone era of force and authoritarian rule, instead of seeking “new approaches” in disputes with the Kurds.
“The main problem of Iraqi leaders is that they still don’t know that you can only erase a bloody past with new approaches,” Barzani said in an interview with Iraq’s Almada newspaper.
Erbil has been locked in a string of serious rows with the Shiite-led Arab government in Baghdad over control of energy reserves, security in disputed territories claimed by both sides and the Kurdish share of the national budget.
Late last year the two sides came close to war south of oil-rich Kirkuk when Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki deployed his newly-formed Dijla forces into the province, parts of which are in dispute. But tensions eased after both sides agreed to form a joint security force.
“I myself visited Baghdad and held talks with Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on all the issues between Baghdad and the Kurdistan Region and we both felt that national dialogue is needed to break the ice,” Barzani said.
Following his visit, the two sides agreed to form a number of committees to study the points of contention, but Barzani told Almada that the committees alone would not end disagreements.
“We acknowledged that talks between the committees alone aren’t enough,” he said. “But initiatives were needed in order to break the psychological barrier that existed between Iraqi leaders.”
Iraq’s Kurdish leaders have been extremely critical of Maliki, accusing him of increasing authoritarianism. Barzani said that, after decades of hostility with the Kurds, Baghdad still had not understood that issues cannot be resolved by force.
“History has proven that the use of force cannot resolve the issues,” Barzani told the daily. “A man who comes to power and believes that he is the strongest will never solve anything.”
The prime minister added that former dictator Saddam Hussein had felt he was the eternal leader of Iraq, and with that mentality he led the country from one disaster to another.
Barzani added that close to a century of war between Iraq and the Kurds has created an atmosphere of distrust between both sides.
Comments
5 0 KIM | 15/8/2013
We are wasting time with Baghdad!. Eventually, there will be a conflict between Kurds and Arabs and the only solution would be partitioning Iraq.
Report
2 0 FAUthman | 12 hours ago
The Kurds are handling their relationship with Baghdad admirably well, cooperative but distant. With Turkey and Iran they are building solid bridges, a pipeline through Turkey to the Mediterranean ports, a fleet of oil trucks through Iran to the Persian Gulf, and huge investments in Kurdistan from both countries. America, Russia, and China are friendly. Visionary by the Kurds and very important to foresee, is that the worlds Supermajor oil companies would come to the aid of Kurdistan with their considerable political clout in case of a threat, if not to protect the Kurds but to safeguard their own stockholder investments. The Kurds are looking at their own potential astutely as an ethnic group and are staying clear of the regional turmoil. I would not worry about Baghdad and its occasional bellicose threats and its deranged chest pounding statements of "dire consequences" regarding the Kurdish pipeline to Turkey. This noise will soon be ancient history.
“The main problem of Iraqi leaders is that they still don’t know that you can only erase a bloody past with new approaches,” Barzani said in an interview with Iraq’s Almada newspaper.
Erbil has been locked in a string of serious rows with the Shiite-led Arab government in Baghdad over control of energy reserves, security in disputed territories claimed by both sides and the Kurdish share of the national budget.
Late last year the two sides came close to war south of oil-rich Kirkuk when Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki deployed his newly-formed Dijla forces into the province, parts of which are in dispute. But tensions eased after both sides agreed to form a joint security force.
“I myself visited Baghdad and held talks with Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on all the issues between Baghdad and the Kurdistan Region and we both felt that national dialogue is needed to break the ice,” Barzani said.
Following his visit, the two sides agreed to form a number of committees to study the points of contention, but Barzani told Almada that the committees alone would not end disagreements.
“We acknowledged that talks between the committees alone aren’t enough,” he said. “But initiatives were needed in order to break the psychological barrier that existed between Iraqi leaders.”
Iraq’s Kurdish leaders have been extremely critical of Maliki, accusing him of increasing authoritarianism. Barzani said that, after decades of hostility with the Kurds, Baghdad still had not understood that issues cannot be resolved by force.
“History has proven that the use of force cannot resolve the issues,” Barzani told the daily. “A man who comes to power and believes that he is the strongest will never solve anything.”
The prime minister added that former dictator Saddam Hussein had felt he was the eternal leader of Iraq, and with that mentality he led the country from one disaster to another.
Barzani added that close to a century of war between Iraq and the Kurds has created an atmosphere of distrust between both sides.
Comments
5 0 KIM | 15/8/2013
We are wasting time with Baghdad!. Eventually, there will be a conflict between Kurds and Arabs and the only solution would be partitioning Iraq.
Report
2 0 FAUthman | 12 hours ago
The Kurds are handling their relationship with Baghdad admirably well, cooperative but distant. With Turkey and Iran they are building solid bridges, a pipeline through Turkey to the Mediterranean ports, a fleet of oil trucks through Iran to the Persian Gulf, and huge investments in Kurdistan from both countries. America, Russia, and China are friendly. Visionary by the Kurds and very important to foresee, is that the worlds Supermajor oil companies would come to the aid of Kurdistan with their considerable political clout in case of a threat, if not to protect the Kurds but to safeguard their own stockholder investments. The Kurds are looking at their own potential astutely as an ethnic group and are staying clear of the regional turmoil. I would not worry about Baghdad and its occasional bellicose threats and its deranged chest pounding statements of "dire consequences" regarding the Kurdish pipeline to Turkey. This noise will soon be ancient history.
