Kurdistan should participate in political, military decisions in Baghdad: Masrour Barzani

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Kurdistan Region should participate in political and military decision-making in Baghdad, the Chancellor of the Kurdistan Region Security Council (KRSC) said on Tuesday.

KRSC Chancellor Masrour Barzani made the comments during a meeting with the European Union Ambassador to Iraq, Ramon Blecua, in the Kurdistan Region capital of Erbil.

According to a readout of the meeting, Barzani said the Kurds support Iraqi Prime Minister-designate Adel Abdul-Mahdi and that consultations with all Iraqi components are ongoing.

Kurdistan’s role and participation in political, military, and security decision-making in Baghdad should be real, Barzani added.

The KRSC Chancellor stressed that the application of the articles in the Iraqi Constitution, especially Article 140, is necessary to resolve disputes between the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and the Iraqi government.

According to Article 140 of the 2005 constitution, the future of Kirkuk and other disputed areas were to be decided on in three stages, beginning with normalization and then relying on a local referendum to determine which government would administer the region. However, this was never implemented due to political differences.

The Iraqi government and the KRG have many other stranded problems, such as a share of the federal budget, the situation of oil, and the payment of salaries to Peshmerga forces.

The EU ambassador, meanwhile, stressed the continued support of European countries to the Kurdistan Region and the EU’s desire for Kurdistan to form a strong government following parliamentary elections and contribute to the recovery of the Region’s economy, the readout said.

Blecua underlined the EU’s support for Kurdistan in the fight against terror and restructuring the security forces and Peshmerga, it added.

The two sides also stressed the need to develop relations between the Kurdistan Region and the European Union.