Kurdistan Wants to Make a New Start: PM Masrour Barzani
In an op-ed on Thursday, the Kurdish prime minister said Kurdistan Region is working to look past the recent traumas, consolidate its place in the region, and secure a presence on the international stage. “In short, we want to make a new start,” he wrote.
“Last week, I formed a government to lead the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. My mission is to change the way we do things, both at home and abroad. As prime minister, I will offer a different way of doing business that feeds off the challenges we’ve endured, builds on our achievements and responds to an evolving global dynamic,” reads a fragment from Barzani’s opinion.
We are embarking on a new journey toward building a stronger Kurdistan.
He reminds that leading a costly war against the Islamic State (IS), sheltering millions of Syrian refugees and Iraqi IDPs, and having its share from the Iraqi federal budget cut, Kurdistan Region is left with “billions of dollars in debt”.
Despite the ongoing challenges, as Barzani explains, the Kurdistan Region has remained a friend and ally of the West and a partner in the region. He emphasized that the leading role of Peshmerga forces in the war against the Islamic State was as much about protecting Kurdistan’s allies as it was about safeguarding Kurdistan itself.
Throughout our hardships, we have remained a friend and ally of the West and a partner in the region.
“We have provided intelligence that has foiled terrorist attacks abroad and offered refuge to almost 2 million people fleeing persecution. We have clearly demonstrated our good faith as global citizens, sheltering Arabs, Kurds, Muslims, Yazidis, Christians, Turkmen and others. Ten kilometers from our parliament building is a thriving community of Christians, from all parts of the Middle East, who are building churches and worshiping in peace.”
Barzani renewed a call on the Western allies to help Kurdistan Region to secure a future for the displaced and for the people of Kurdistan Region. He noted that as the prime minister of Kurdistan Region, he will implement reforms that will adopt global best practices and bring accountability to all arms of civil service and cabinet.
We have clearly demonstrated our good faith as global citizens, sheltering Arabs, Kurds, Muslims, Yazidis, Christians, Turkmen and others.
“My government will create a diversified economy that delivers growing prosperity for all. We will enact legislation to make Kurdistan a welcoming and attractive location for investors. We will integrate and modernize our armed forces. And we will transform public services and tackle corruption to ensure that the government serves the people, not the other way around. Engaging us politically and financially will be essential to this transformation, and I call on our friends to do so,” Barzani wrote.
“I will also take steps to reset the relationship between Erbil and Baghdad, which has remained fraught for the past 16 years. For most of that time we have essentially governed ourselves, though without breaking our tie with Iraq.”
We cannot perform our role as hosts alone. We need to secure a future for the displaced and for ourselves.
The Kurdish prime minister also shed light on his visit to Baghdad this week, where he met with Iraqi President, Prime Minister, and Parliament Speaker to discuss the ties between Erbil and Baghdad. Barzani revealed that he had discussed with him ways to settle the disputes over oil, territory, budgets and the role of Peshmerga forces. “I want to ensure that our agreements are honored through a fair distribution of budget. A resolution would offer the bedrock for future cooperation. Our future is wedded to a secure and democratic Iraq,” he reasserted.
On the 2017’s independence referendum of Kurdistan Region, to which 93% of people voted in favor but it faced international community’s backlash, PM Barzani said they would have welcomed greater support from the international community for the right of people of Kurdistan to self-determination. However, he notes that the priority now is to create a strong, stable Kurdistan Region anchored within the international community. “We ask those whom we helped protect to acknowledge the constructive global role we have played by helping us build our economy.”
We cannot perform our role as hosts alone. We need to secure a future for the displaced and for ourselves.
“Over many generations of conflict, every family in Iraqi Kurdistan has suffered a personal loss. We can no longer relinquish solidarity, or squander the sacrifices made by so many, through returning to the squabbling that plagued the relationships between parties and neighbors,” the Kurdish premier continued.
He reminded that Kurds have always been honest brokers trusted by all, including the United States, and that they are expecting their friends to help them “start again”.
