Kurdistan was unhappy at that time with the way that the region was being treated by the central government in Baghdad, particularly over budgetary issues relating to medical support and aid for the 1.5 million refugees in Kurdistan displaced by the fighting in Syria and with ISIS.

So in September 2017 they tried to force the issue on their administrative differences by calling for a referendum on the region’s future in order to bring Baghdad to the negotiating table and secure the political capital they believed they had earned from years of fighting alongside the Americans against extremist and terrorist groups.

The gambit backfired when Iranian backed militia who had been engaged in defeating ISIS handed over Kirkuk to the Iraqi army without putting up a fight. The finger of blame was pointed by Kurdistan at Washington and the former US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.  The Kurdish people were significantly weakened economically and politically by this invasion of their territory, and the 150 000 refugees fleeing the brutal occupation caused a huge humanitarian cost to the region.

One year later, the situation has now changed dramatically. The new US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is making new efforts to support Iraq’s formation of a moderate, nationalist Iraqi government. In the May 2018 elections in Iraq, the former Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi who had previously received strong US backing, suffered a severe defeat. Abadi only won 42 seats in the Parliament, while the Kurdish parties secured around 50 seats.

This meant that the Kurdish region and its parties, came to hold the keys to forming the next government in Iraq and that the Kurdish region had become the key to forming a pro-Western government in Baghdad.

Regional elections were held in Kurdistan on 30 September, with a resounding victory for the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and the Democratic Patriotic Alliance of Kurdistan (KDP).

The President of Iraq was then subsequently chosen as Barham Salih, as part of the new government in Baghdad. Mr. Salih is a moderate Kurd and a British-educated engineer who is an avid supporter of higher education for young people, which is essential for getting the country’s economy back on track.

All eyes are now on the negotiations to choose the next Prime Minister for Iraq.

For the USA and the EU the autonomy of Kurdistan within a strong unified and sovereign Iraq is important both for international security and to contain the strategic threat of Iran in the region as a renegade power. Kurdistan is vital to this equation because of its strategic location at the nexus of Iran, Syria, Turkey and Iraq.

Whoever is chosen as Iraq’s next Prime Minister, the central government in Baghdad will need to move quickly to rebuild trust with Erbil (the capital of Kurdistan). They will need to reassure foreign investors that they are needed to rebuild Kurdistan.

The only way for that to happen is for Erbil and Baghdad to renegotiate Kurdish oil policy and revenue sharing in terms of the Iraqi national budget. To achieve this there must be the rebuilding of trust between Erbil and Baghdad, a revenue sharing formula to manage the country’s oil assets and a pragmatic and transparent budget system to ensure that Kurdistan receives a fair distribution of the national revenues from Baghdad to rebuild the country that has not only been ripped to shreds by ISIS but which still bears the scars of the Iran-Iraq war.

The return of Kirkuk to the administration of the regional government of Kurdistan must be part of this deal.

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Meanwhile, the Iraqi army and the Shiite militia who are backed by Iran, the PMF (Popular Mobilisation Forces) have this morning started to bomb Peshmerga positions to the North West of Mosul.  They are trying to secure control of the border between Kurdistan and Turkey, and the oil-pipeline between Iraq and Turkey that had previously been interrupted by occupying ISIS forces, and which passes through Kurdistan.

“We never thought the West would accept Iranian proxies using Western weapons against their allies in Kurdistan,” said Delavar Ajgeiy, the Head of the Kurdistan Representation in Brussels.

He expressed huge disappointment that Washington and EU may have effectively taken sides in the conflict between Kurdistan and Iraq by letting the PMF use weapons which were delivered to Baghdad for the purpose of fighting against ISIS to now be turned against the Kurdish Peshmerga forces who fought alongside the Iraqi Army to drive out ISIS.

“We urge the EU to work on a Security Council resolution to mediate between the Kurdish Regional Government and Baghdad,” said Mr Ajgeiy. “We call on the EU to break its silence, support Kurdistan and stop the aggression of the PMF against our people.”

The danger if Baghdad continues their current aggression against the Kurdistan Regional Government is that this strategy is likely to quickly explode into a violent civil war, which will destroy the prospect of any lasting peace in Iraq. The Kurdish people have suffered generations of abuse and atrocity; having fought so bravely to liberate their families and homes from ISIS, nobody should underestimate the determination of the Peshmerga to defend their positions against the Iraqi Army and the Shiite Iranian proxies of the PMF.

The danger to the European Union of allowing the dispute to spiral out of control is that civil war could trigger a huge wave of hundreds of thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs), Kurds, Sunnis and Christians, who will seek refugee status in Europe. During the fighting with ISIS, all of the IDPs affected by the war were cared for by the Kurdistan Regional Government, but renewed aggression in the region will cause chaos.

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) held a referendum earlier this month which saw a landslide vote in favour of independence for Kurdistan. The KRG still retain the right of self-determination and to create a homeland for the Kurdish people, but they have temporarily frozen any decision to implement the results of the referendum, and have postponed the question of independence from Iraq indefinitely, in favour of establishing a proper dialogue with Baghdad on the best way forward. 

The KRG claim multiple breeches of the Iraqi Constitution by Baghdad, and are looking for a settlement, in particular in relation to budgetary issues. The KRG has called on the Iraqi Government to stop the military aggression of the Iraqi Army against Peshmerga forces, and to halt abuses by armed groups who are carrying out looting, burning and issuing threats against the Kurdish people in Kirkuk and other cities.

The post Call for the EU to mediate in Kurdish-Iraqi talks appeared first on Brussels Express.

The Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) held a referendum on independence on Monday 25th September. The plebiscite was held in the Kurdistan Region, and in adjoining areas under the military control of Kurdish Peshmerga forces, but which the Iraqi central government disputes as not belonging to Kurdistan.

Final result: 92% voted in favour of the independence.

Following this referendum, the Kurdistan culture will be promoted in Brussels. Starting today until October 1, the Kurdistan community welcome Brussels to the 4th Kurdistan Culture Week. This four day event will allow the Brussels citizens to discover the traditions, music, gastronomy and political cause of Kurdistan.

Key events:

• A traditional Kurdish weeding cortege around Boulevard Anspach.
• A conference will be held tomorrow at the European Parliament on the challenges of spreading the Kurdish culture.
• Activities for youngsters are foreseen to allow them to get in touch with the Kurdish culture
• Cinema: the movie House Without Roof will be screened this Saturday at 9:00 pm. Venue: Cinema Galeries de la reine.
• On the last day, a popular dance hall will take place on Place d’Espagne.

You will find the full programme and background information here.

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Kurdistan has been an autonomous region of Iraq since 1970 under the constitution of Iraq, and is located between Syria to the West, Turkey to the north, Iran to the East and the rest of Iraq to the south. It is an oil rich economy, and fossil fuels make up most of its exports.

Kurdistan has 14 representative missions outside the country, including Russia, the United Kingdom, the European Union and the USA. I spoke with the Head of Mission for Kurdistan in Brussels, Mr Delavar Ajgeiy about the forthcoming referendum which will be held shortly before a similarly controversial regional plebiscite on independence in Catalonia scheduled for 1 October.

The result of the Kurdistan referendum is likely to be published in early October, and it is widely expected to deliver a verdict that overwhelmingly supports the creation of an independent state of Kurdistan.

The electorate has suffered a turbulent history since Iraq was established after the First World War, with particularly brutal and notorious oppression under former President Saddam Hussein, and more recently with the violent occupation of key cities by IS forces who have been guilty of the most terrible atrocities against the civilian population.

The Kurdish people have been campaigning for changes to the Iraqi election law preparing the ground for the 2018 national elections in Iraq, better representation for Kurdistan, and a stronger say in the allocation of federal budget to Kurdistan. They feel particularly aggrieved that Baghdad has been starving Kurdistan of budget finance, citing as an example the huge contribution Kurdistan has made to medical services, without any financial assistance from the central Iraqi government.

Mr Ajgeiy explained that the referendum would be supervised by an independent election committee, and that a number of observers had been invited from the EU to witness proceedings, including some Members of the European Parliament who have an informal friendship group with Kurdistan that is chaired by the British Conservative MEP Charles Tannock.

« If, as expected, the result backs independence and the Kurdish people are fully aware of the risks and challenges that this will present, I personally shall be one of the first to support it ».
British Conservative MEP Charles Tannock

The European Parliament also has a delegation for Iraq chaired by the British Conservative MEP David Campbell Bannerman that takes an active interest in Kurdistan affairs.

“We are organising the referendum in a peaceful and democratic way, in observance of EU values, and we look to the EU for support of our efforts to achieve self-determination,” said Mr Ajgeiy. “We believe in dialogue and we will not use violence. This is a local question that needs to be decided between the Iraqis and the Kurds.”

“Kurdistan is in favour of stability in the region, and it is important to recognise our achievements here. Not only have the 150 000 strong Kurdish fighters in our army played a well documented and courageous part alongside the Iraqi Army to defeat IS, but also as a nation we have helped to look after more than 1.8 million refugees inside Kurdistan from many different surrounding regions who might otherwise have caused a crisis of migration if these internally displaced people (IDPs) had sought refuge in the EU. We are a strong partner for the EU, and a force for improving security.”

Commenting on Mr Ajgeiy’s remarks, senior European Parliamentarian and foreign policy expert Charles Tannock MEP said, “I believe that the Kurds have a strong case for statehood in Iraq, and that the international community should contemplate carefully the result of the September 25th referendum. An independent Kurdistan could act as homeland for the large Kurdish diaspora throughout the world and in neighbouring countries, in much the same was as we see with Armenia and Israel. » 

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