KRG PM: Economic crisis will end, brighter future awaits people of Kurdistan

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan 24) – The Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) on Tuesday assured the people of the Kurdistan Region that the current financial crisis would end, promising that a brighter future awaits.

During a televised speech to mark the occasion of Newroz, the Kurdish New Year, KRG Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani said Kurdistan was not on the brink of catastrophe, promising the people an improved economic situation in the future.

“I would like to assure [the people of Kurdistan] that the difficult economic situation, with everyone’s collaboration and resilience, will be overcome and everything will be back to normal,” Barzani stated.

Kurdistan is not on the verge of a disaster as some believe, the KRG leader said, adding that “we can make Kurdistan reach a brighter future with unity and constructive internal dialogue.”

He noted that as a result of the sacrifices of the Peshmerga and the resilience of the people, the peaceful Kurdish movement has reached “a new height that cannot be exterminated.”

Barzani explained that “due to the fight against [the Islamic State], an internal political stalemate, political tensions with Baghdad, and the global economic crisis, the Kurdistan Region faces many hardships, the most serious issue among them being Kurdistan’s budget cut by Baghdad at the beginning of 2014.”

He noted that the most significant challenge facing the Region was the economic crisis, assuring the people that with their help and strength, the economic situation would recover.

Addressing all ethnic and religious components of the Region, Barzani said his government is “committed to protecting the equality and peaceful coexistence in Kurdistan, as we have always been.”

“Coexistence and the struggle of Christians and Turkmens in defending the Kurdistan Region is a matter of respect and praise,” he added.

The KRG Prime Minister also assured neighboring countries that “Kurdistan’s peaceful aspirations in Iraq have never been, nor will ever be, a threat to any country,” adding that “its success will bring them peace and prosperity.”

“We are spreading the message of peace to all nations in the region, and we reassure them that we are a factor of stability,” Barzani concluded.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany