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Briefing About Iraqi Kurdistan
20.6.2005
Published on June.19
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Falah Mustafa Bakir
Minister of State, Kurdish Regional Government
briefed London's Next Century Foundation about
developments in Iraqi Kurdistan.
Introductory speech by Minister Bakir: The
history of the Kurds in Iraq is not one of
prosperity and development. Kurds were supposed to
be dealt with as equal partners, as citizens of
Iraq, but we were always treated as inferior. In
1960 Mullah Mustafa Barzani began the armed
struggle. Its objectives were democracy for Iraq,
autonomy for Kurdistan. We have always believed that
democracy comes first. Saddam eventually signed an
agreement with Barzani for Kurdish autonomy, but we
were told that there would be a 4 year
‘implementation period’. Of course we were betrayed.
In 1976 the deal between Saddam and the Shah put us
in an even worse position. It wasn’t good for the
government either: they invaded Shatt Al Arab,
starting the Iranian war, in 1979 and then invaded
Kuwait in 1990 because they needed money. They
needed money to deal with the Kurdish problem.
For Kurds, Kirkuk is certainly an oil-rich area, but
more than that, it is a symbol of our past
oppression. In 1936 Hawija started the Arabisation
process and it continued – most intensively during
the 1970s. After enduring all this we were then
patronised by Tariq Aziz who said “the kurds,
they’ve just come down from the mountains, they’ve
no idea how to manage their own affairs”.
Since 1991 we have existed in a legal vacuum. The
Kurdish National Front is an umbrella group of
parties. Our elections have been fair by regional
standards. Although we supporters of Barzani were in
the majority, we agreed to a 50/50 power share. Even
with all this political effort we still had economic
problems. For months we couldn’t pay civil servants’
salaries, but they still came to work, that is how
strong our collective determination to succeed is.
The KRG worked hard to provide services for people.
180,000 of our people were missing in ‘Anfal’
operations. Civilians were arrested all the time.
4,500 villages were destroyed as part of Saddam’s
‘scorched earth’ strategy. Halabja was not the only
site of destruction, but it became the symbol of it.
We worked hard to run an administration without a
proper budget and with Saddam doing the kind of
things insurgents do today – setting booby traps
etc. Security was the major issue in those days.
Today we have reconstructed 85% of the villages
destroyed under Saddam. We created confidence. We
introduced elements of the peshmerga (regional
security force) into the police force. We trained
young peshmerga to respect rights. We have been
called collaborators. We have tried reconciliation.
Barzani always said that our problem was not with
the Iraqis but with the regime, that even Sunnis
suffered under Saddam. We wanted the UN oil for food
programme to be a success, but Saddam manipulated
the UN bureaucracy and we didn’t see any of it
[funds/benefits].
Turkey wanted to trade with Saddam, it didn’t want
to deal with the Kurds, so it tried to build a new
[border] crossing point. Fortunately the US stopped
them [Turkey]or we’d have been cut off completely.
When the Iraqis tried to take the Sha’ha area we saw
how strong we were: not only did the peshmerga fight
but local villagers resisted, the coalition flew
flights into the region and we arrested some Iraqi
soldiers who didn’t want to go back! But every time
we have had a chance we have opted for federalism
within a democratic Iraq. We have been actively
involved in the new Iraq – we came up with the idea
of a governing council, we were able to bring the
full spectrum of Iraqi society to the table.
We want to build a new Iraq. We are committed to TAL
and will make sure that it is incorporated into the
constitution. Any change must be an intensification
of the principles of TAL, nothing less than TAL.
Some people have talked about momentum, but we’re
not in a hurry, we want to get it right.
In an informal referendum, 1.7 million Kurds voted
for independence. But our government said that
federalism would be better.
We have a secular government that includes women. We
don’t want anything imposed on us, but we will let
federal, defence, foreign and monetary policy be
decided by the State. We will not disband the
peshmerga – if it were not for them many, many more
Kurds would have been killed over the years and they
must remain; even if it is in the form of a National
Guard or something.
Kirkuk is part of Kurdistan. We were very
responsible after the fall of the regime – we didn’t
go in and grab, we wanted a lasting solution. It is
a property and a rights issue: not an occasion to
reverse ethnic cleansing. We don’t ask for the
impossible, just TAL and article 58. It’s not that
complicated. The people of Kirkuk should decide
their own fate.
We are committed to the Iraqi government. We have
sent our best people to form the new government. It
needs time, it’s a difficult process, but we’ll get
there.
Question from Adel Darwish, Journalist: I
just came back from a security conference – there
were no Kurds there – and the US and the British
were saying the peshmerga should be maintained. What
are you prepared to give for Kirkuk, for federalism?
Also you say you support TAL, but doesn’t TAL talk
of Sharia law and the Arab nation?
Comment by Mr Ja'afar Al Ahmer: Yes, and TAL wasn’t
made by an elected body.
Response Minister Bakir:
Well first of all, we’re doing everything we can –
we gave up our own currency, our own foreign policy,
the people want full independence! As regards TAL,
it was drafted by constitutional experts. It says
Islam should be a source but not the source of
legislation. We definitely don’t accept Iraq being
an ‘Arab Nation’ – nothing against the Arabs but we
have our own language and customs.
Comment by Kamran Karadaji, Institute of War &
Peace: I think TAL says that only Arabs are part of
the Arab nation.
Question from Mr Mozaffar Shafeie, BBC
Iranian Service: Which groups do you most identify
with?
Question from Mr Ghanim Jawad: What’s the
real reason for the delay? Is it because Kurds won’t
accept the religious state?
Response Minister Bakir:
Of course there are opposition groups who we have
strong sympathy with. It’s not a matter of
preferring one to the other though. It’s not an easy
task forming a government. We see it as a package
deal. It’s not like having your guys as ministers in
the government guarantees you anything – we had
ministers in Saddam’s government. We accept Jafaari
as a candidate – he has the will of the majority. He
might not be someone we’ve worked with in the past
but also Jafaari is not alone, he represents the
Alliance list. Some on that list have different
views.
Question from Alistair King-Smith: We’ve
talked about the national process – what about local
elections? What efforts are the Kurds making to
‘sell’ their views to the rest of Iraq? In the South
people have no idea where they’re coming from.
Comment from Jawad Mella: Minister, you are fair and
civilised. You can’t make people practice democracy
in a couple of days. You say democracy first, I say
Kurdish rights first.
Response Minister Bakir:
(In response to Alistair) We have tried. We have
helped with training. We were ready, we wanted to
share intelligence information – the reluctance was
always from Baghdad. To be honest, our people don’t
have loyalty to Iraq, they have it to Kurdistan, but
it is in our interest to be part of Iraq. There are
resources – they are a talented, skilful people. We
have said if we want our country to feel safe, let
our police be trained in Erbil, not Jordan. We have
tried to make Kurdistan the gateway for investors
into the country because it is relatively safe – we
brought a delegation last year to show that. But
Baghdad rejects our overtures. I’ve just been to
Washington where everyone was annoyed at the Kurds
for slowing down the process. I said ‘We owe the
process nothing, and have a lot to lose by it. We
have got through a hard time and we are being
careful’. Why does everyone criticise Kurdistan? Why
not Baghdad? A Kuwaiti company wants to establish a
power plant in Kurdistan that will supply cheap
power to Iraq, cheaper than what they’re getting at
the moment. They just want Baghad to commit to
buying it. They won’t. Why not have an airport at
Erbil? It’s secure. If we are truly part of Iraq
then shouldn’t they trust us to handle customs? It’s
like people flying to Manchester having to get their
passports stamped in London first. On the issue of
elections, we wanted a census before elections. Also
3 elections at once would be too confusing for an
illiterate people.
Question from Alistair King-Smith: When will
there be municipal and local elections?
Response Minister Bakir:
The new government will decide.
Question from Mr Mokhtar Warida: Is the delay
in forming the government indicative of delay in the
political process? Are the issues going to be
handled in the drafting process? Isn’t there a
contradiction between having the peshmerga and
letting the national government take control of
security?
Response Minister Bakir:
No, the drafting of the constitution will be handled
by constitutional experts. As regards the peshmerga,
we won’t call them ‘our’ army, we will put certain
Peshmerga in the national army. In the US there is a
national guard and the US army. We are not ready to
give up the peshmerga: partly for moral reasons,
because of everything they have done for us. Also we
live in a tough neighbourhood.
Question from June Jacobs: I’m concerned
about women in the new political arrangement. What
can you tell us about the KRG’s position on that?
Question from Abdul Aziz: What are the
chances that other regions will ask for federalism?
Response Minister Bakir:
By the way, we do feel betrayed by the UN. In our
region it was the UN who betrayed us. [They showed]
nepotism, favouritism - when we were asking them to
recruit our people they brought in incompetents of
their own. The old UN has no place in Iraq. Of
course the position of women is a very important
human rights issue. That’s why we are not just
talking to the Alliance list but to other political
groups in Iraq. We want women to live without
discrimination. As for federalism, yes, there have
been other voices, in Basra for example. We support
federalism as part of a pluralistic federal Iraq.
The South has suffered too.
Question from Yekiti Gulburan, Freelance
Turkish Journalist: How many Kurdish workers work in
the Kirkuk oil fields?
Response Minister Bakir:
12 out of 18,000
Question from Lord Tim Clement Jones: What
about relations with Turkey?
Response Minister Bakir:
Turkey is important. We want relations on the basis
of mutual respect. We’ve been safe neighbours for 15
years now with no security incidents. There are 60
Turkish companies working in Kurdistan. We want to
maintain good relations. Elements of Kurdish forces
have been in Northern areas since the mid 1990s
because of the PKK. We have said that we are against
any foreign troops here. But whenever we raise that
issue they talk about the PKK. They should issue a
genuine amnesty for people who want to go back. We
need a second border crossing if we are to have good
relations with Turkey. As regards claims that we are
a ‘second Israel’ in the region – we do not claim
the rights of others. We will never be against
Arabs. Unfortunately the Arab governments won’t let
their intellectuals, who are friends of the Kurds,
come to Kurdistan. We have no relations with Israel.
When Baghdad establishes relations with Israel we
will. Turkey and the others are talking this whole
thing up – our peshmerga don’t need Israeli
training.
Question from Rabbi Herschell: How do you see
the relationship between Iraqi Kurds and other
Kurds?
Response Minister Bakir:
We believe in a peaceful dialogue to maintain
Kurdish rights. We enjoy good relations with the
Kurdish Diaspora. The peshmerga rescued Jewish Kurds
from Iraq, sometimes they visit from Israel. Barzani
said one day the whole Kurdish nation of 35 million
world-wide would unite. That is our dream. We Kurds
have nothing against Persians, Syrians, Iraqis: we
just want the same rights as them.
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