On “March 11” anniversary, PM Barzani stresses solution to disputes with Baghdad

Mustafa Shilani 2021/03/11 14:06

KRG Prime Minister Masrour Barzani gives a speech, March 10, 2021. (Photo: KRG)

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani on Thursday stressed the importance of resolving all disputes with the Iraqi federal government on the basis of guaranteeing the constitutional rights of the people of the autonomous region.

In a statement to mark the 51th anniversary of the “March 11 Agreement” between Iraq's former regime and Kurdish revolutionary movement, Prime Minister Barzani noted that the agreement was a historic achievement that was led by Kurdish leader Mullah Mustafa Barzani.

“The struggle of the Kurdish people forced the Iraqi government, for the first time, to formally recognize part of the legitimate national rights of the people of Kurdistan. Unfortunately, the Iraqi government soon violated the agreement, and as a result it resorted to violence and war against the people of Kurdistan,” he said.

Brazani added that the “March 11 agreement was the product of the struggle and sacrifices of all classes and the different components of the people of Kurdistan, and their desire for peaceful coexistence and the rejection of war and devastation.”

He concluded by saying "on this occasion, we stress a fundamental solution of our problems with the federal government on the basis of preserving and ensuring the constitutional rights of the people of Kurdistan and laying the foundations and principles of the federal system in Iraq."

Following several years of fighting between the Kurds – led by Mullah Mustafa Barzani – and the former Iraqi regime, the sides reached a peace accord known as the March 11 Agreement in 1970 that granted autonomy and other rights to the Kurds in Iraq for the first time.

Within the agreement the Kurdish people were to have representation in Iraqi government agencies, and the deal was planned to be implemented in four years. But in 1975, the Iraqi government refused to recognize the autonomy agreement and signed a pact with Iran to halt the Kurdish liberation movement.

Editing by Joanne Stocker-Kelly