Kurdistan will never give up its land, people: Security chief

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan 24) – The chancellor of the Kurdistan Region’s Security Council (KRSC), Masrour Barzani, on Sunday said dreams of independence for the Kurdistan Region would never die out and called on Baghdad to handle the situation peacefully.

In an interview with Al-Monitor, his first with the Western media since the referendum, Barzani spoke about the independence vote and the aftermath the region has subsequently faced.

“We have to be realistic about what is possible,” Barzani cautioned. “We believed it was important for the world and the Iraqi government also should know what the desires of the Kurdish people are.”

Barzani explained that the referendum was designed to avoid confrontation with Baghdad and maintain “peaceful and stable relations” but that there were attempts to misrepresent the intentions of the Kurds in the referendum.

“Unfortunately, I believe the intentions of our people were deliberately misinterpreted because expressing a desire doesn’t mean that it should necessarily lead to confrontation.”

While the world was not “ready” for an independent Kurdistan, Barzani maintained it is not a crime for nation to express its will and “how they want to live.” He added that Baghdad regularly would claim Kurds were not united in their dealings with the central government and that the referendum helped prove otherwise.

“Whenever there were negotiations about future relations between the Kurdistan Region and Baghdad, the response was that this [the view articulated by the Kurdish side] did not necessarily reflect the will of all the Kurds so it was necessary to know what the Kurdish people want,” he said. “Now we do know what they want: 92% voted “yes” in favor of independence.”

The top security chief also condemned the response to the independence vote, stating the Kurdish people should not “be held responsible or punished for saying how they want to live.” The Iraqi federal government imposed a number of sanctions and collective punishments on the Kurdistan Region in retaliation to the vote, including the banning of international flights.

“Shutting the airports was an unnecessary sanctioning of the Kurds. We met recently with Iraqi Prime Minister [Haider al-Abadi] and other officials and he promised that the airports would be open soon,” but Barzani did not show much enthusiasm. “We have heard the word "soon" used many times before.”

Barzani also criticized the US and the international community for their lack of response of actions against the Federal Government of Iraq, which was emboldened by the silence of their allies. “If they had not accepted Iraq taking unconstitutional measures, and reacting disproportionately to the referendum, then probably the Iraqi government would not have felt encouraged to use military force to settle political differences with millions of people in a country called Iraq.

“We want to live in peace,” he continued. “What belongs to Kurdistan belongs to Kurdistan. We will never give up our land or the well-being of our people,” but Barzani reassured Erbil would maintain its ties with its allies “even if we have disagreements.”

He also argued that the Kurdistan Region has always been committed to cooperating with Baghdad, including in the fight against terrorism in the country.  “The decision to fight [the Islamic State (IS)] was our own. No matter the state of our relations with Baghdad we shall always remain committed to fighting international terrorism.”