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Not a single Penny from Kurdistan's oil
revenue is missing: Nechirvan Barzani
10.8.2012 |
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August 10, 2012
ERBIL-Hewlêr, Kurdistan region 'Iraq', —
Speaking to the press this week, Nechirvan Barzani,
the prime minister of the Kurdistan Regional
Government (KRG), said that after the withdrawal of
American forces from Iraq, a mechanism was agreed
upon to organize the interaction between Peshmerga
forces and the Iraqi Army.
That mechanism was established in order to prevent
problems and increase cooperation, said PM Barzani,
and was why Peshmerga forces stopped the recent
advance of the Iraqi Army from Nasiriyah, of which
they weren’t informed as required by the existing
agreement.
“No doubt, whenever and wherever we need help from
the Iraqi Army, we will ask in the same way Baghdad
asked for assistance from Peshmerga forces in order
to protect the Iraqi people in Baghdad,” Barzani
said.
He added, “The Iraqi Army is the army of all and we
will ask for its assistance whenever there is a
security issue. But what happened recently was
uncalled for and we did not know the rationale
behind it.”
The prime minister said that the issue has been
resolved and the army units will be returning to
their bases.
Barzani confirmed that the foreign policy of
Kurdistan is shaped by Baghdad as outlined by the
Iraqi constitution. However, he said, "We have
friendships with Iran and Turkey and visit these
countries and are visited by them every now and
then.”
The prime minister added, “We have our own views on
strategic matters and never interfere in the
internal issues of those countries. This is a matter
of principal for us and we never interfere in the
internal issues of Syria, Iran or Turkey.”
PM Barzani said that the Kurdish government has in
the past helped people outside the borders of the
Kurdistan Region to protect themselves.
“In 2003, we gave arms to people in the coastal
region of Mosul in order for them to protect
themselves,” he said.
The recent deployment of Iraqi troops to Syrian
border areas came after comments from Kurdish
President Massoud Barzani that Syrian Kurdish
soldiers were being trained in the Kurdistan Region
for self-defense.
“Today, we are worried about sudden changes in Syria
that would threaten our people in that country,” the
prime minister said. “If this happens, then we will
train these people in order to protect themselves.
Otherwise, we do not interfere in their issues."
The prime minister was asked about the recent visit
of Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu to
Kurdistan. Davutoglu met with KRG President Massoud
Barzani last week to discuss the situation in Syria.
He also visited Kirkuk, a multiethnic and disputed
area; he was the first Turkish foreign minister to
do so in 75 years.
Prime Minister Barzani explained that Davutoglu
visited through a visa issued by Iraq in his
diplomatic passport, which does not restrict visits
to any Iraqi provinces. "We perceive Kirkuk as one
of the Iraqi provinces, such as Baghdad and Erbil,”
he said. “Baghdad making an issue out of this is
uncalled for. This is wrong.”
He added, “Why should they restrict his visit to
Kirkuk? Kurds, Arabs, Turkmen, Assyrians and
Chaldeans are all part of Kirkuk. When we visit
Turkey, our visa does not tell us that we can only
visit Istanbul or that it is forbidden to visit
Diyarbakir. The KRG confirms that Davutoglu has not
violated any diplomatic protocols between Iraq and
Turkey. The visa was issued to Davutoglu by the
Iraqi authorities and allowed him to visit
everywhere in Iraq."
Barzani also addressed the ongoing tension between
Baghdad and Erbil over oil, and the contracts the
KRG has made with foreign companies.
"The claims repeatedly made by Baghdad are outdated
and Kurdistan is certain that the oil contracts it
has signed with foreign oil countries do not violate
the Iraqi constitution,” he said, adding that large
companies such as ExxonMobil and Chevron would not
invest in Kurdistan without being sure of the
legality.
According to the prime minister, the Iraqi
constitution and laws are the way to solve these
issues. “Waving threats does not solve the problem
and Baghdad needs to show a serious commitment to
holding talks with Kurdistan in order to solve this
issue,” he said.
Barzani said that Kurdistan would continue oil
exports once Baghdad released overdue payments to
companies.
The prime minister said that he is accountable for
his statements and that all KRG oil contracts are
transparent and without any issues. He added that
during the KRG's previous cabinet,www.ekurd.net
former PM Barham Salih published everything and that
no country has better transparency than Kurdistan.
"They ask whether the contracts are good or bad. I
am ready to talk about this and say that our
contracts are profit-sharing contracts because
Kurdistan is not like the Arab Gulf states; it
involves political and security risks to invest
here. Hence profit-sharing contracts are more
suitable and less expensive for us,” Barzani said.
The dispute between Baghdad and Erbil over oil
revenues hit a peak in mid-July when Iraqi Prime
Minister Nuri al-Maliki accused the KRG of
“smuggling” oil by not turning revenues over to the
central government, threatening to cut the region’s
budget by billions of U.S. dollars to make up the
difference.
“Regarding oil revenues and the claim that US$4
billion is missing, I confirm before all these
cameras that not even a single penny is missing,”
Barzani said.
He added that oil revenues do not amount to $4
billion, as claimed. The prime minister believes
this number was reached because KRG Minister of
Natural Resources Ashti Hawrami had told parliament
that if the region signed all its oil contracts, its
revenue would be $4 billion.
“This does not mean our revenues are currently $4
billion and the press must convey the correct
information to the public,” Barzani said. “Oil
revenue will not be added to Kurdistan’s budget
because it would be subtracted from the budget in
Baghdad if we did.”
He said that this money was spent on a big water
project in Duhok, along with more than $200 million
for the borders of Garmiyan and Halabja and a budget
to provide housing for the relatives of Anfal
victims, among other projects.
Barzani described future projects as well, including
a Darbandikhan-Kalar road, an airport in Duhok and
both a railway and highway connecting Duhok and
Sulaimani. “These projects will be visible to the
public,” he said, adding that a budget had also been
allocated to build public schools.
Domestically, Barzani confirmed that the Kurdistan
Democratic Party (KDP) and Patriotic Union of
Kurdistan (PUK) have different perspectives but are
united on the important issues.
He said, "We have met three times over the past two
weeks in order to further unify our positions in the
upcoming stages. I will be visiting His Excellency
[Iraqi President] Jalal Talabani in the next few
days in Berlin in order to discuss these issues and
I am certain of a positive outcome to our meeting."
Barzani emphasized the importance of accord among
Kurdistan’s political parties and its citizens,
relying on the constitution as a social contract.
"Political parties exist today that might not
tomorrow. Therefore, an agreement of all the
components of Kurdistan’s society is important.”
“The KRG does not have any red lines in this regard
and is willing to listen to suggestions from all
groups,” he added. “This will make the constitution
richer."
The prime minister went on to discuss the importance
of law implementation. "When a law or anything else
is intended only for publicity, it is better not to
do it at all,” he said.
“Sometimes, we need to prepare the ground for law
implementation, which unfortunately does not always
happen. We have spent a year and a half preparing to
draft a law. Laws cannot be implemented merely by
drafting them and passing them in parliament," said
Barzani.
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