Masrour Barzani: division of Iraq inevitable

Erbil, Kurdistan Region (K24) - Masrour Barzani, Kurdistan’s national security chief, told Washington post on Monday, December 30 that it will take brave decisions to see the realities of Iraq come to fruition and, moreover, the people must decide what they want.

Barzani implied that there is no agreement among the components of Iraq on ruling the country by saying, “Iraq has broken apart. Sunnis believe in a united Iraq only if Sunnis rule it. Shiites believe in a united Iraq only if Shiites rule it. There is no single definition of a united Iraq.”

“Trying to keep the country united against the will of the people is not going to succeed,” he concluded.

Recently, the Kurdistan Region President, Masoud Barzani called on preparations for a referendum aiming at a complete independence from Iraq. 

The Kurdistan Region President, Masoud Barzani said on June 27, 2014, that Kurds will never give back the parts of Kurdish land that have been recaptured by Peshmerga’s blood.

This statement came after Kurdish Peshmerga forces retook the control of ninety-five percent of the disputed areas surrendered to Islamic State (IS) jihadists due to the withdrawal of Iraqi government forces. 

“For us, Article 140 is implemented and finished, we will no longer talk about this,” Barzani said referring to Iraq’s new constitution article.

Article 140, which has been delayed since 2007, aimed at conducting a referendum on Kurdish regions within Iraqi governorates to become part of the Kurdistan Region instead.

Though the United States has always insisted on its stance regarding a united Iraq, the rapid regional changes after IS attacks in Syria and Iraq have created a new opportunity to re-draw the map of the Middle-East.

Kurds in Iraq and Syria, who have actively played a role in pushing back IS insurgents, hope that their success will end the Sykes-Picot agreement held for some one hundred years now.