Masrour Barzani: referendum is national decision, not one-party decision

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) – Chancellor of the Kurdistan Region Security Council (KRSC) stated that the Kurdistan Region will proceed with holding independence referendum which will be through peaceful means and in dialogue with Baghdad.
Masrour Barzani, the Chancellor of the KRSC in a seminar at the Heritage Foundation on Tuesday discussed several topics including the process of holding independence referendum in the Kurdistan Region, the war against Islamic State (IS) and the presence of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

Referendum
Barzani said In order to talk on behalf of our people, we must make sure we hear our people’s views, we need to know what people of Kurdistan would have to say, for that matter we have decided to have a referendum.“We need to ask our people to see how they envision their future relationship with Baghdad to guarantee a safe future for themselves,” stating that after the referendum results new rounds of talks will be initiated with Baghdad.
“What we offer is not a complication but a solution,” Barzani said, peaceful means and dialogue is the only way that allows Kurdistan Region to move forward with the referendum results.
The problems of terrorism, social disorder, political instability and economic collapse we are facing today are the result of a failed system,
Asked about any possible opposition to independent Kurdistan, Barzani said, holding referendum is a very democratic process, I do not see anybody openly opposing the idea as we want what our people want and we are determined to have the referendum.
Concerning the internal issues and its impact on the process of referendum, Chancellor Barzani explained that one of the unifying factors that political parties in the Kurdistan Region is referendum stating that all other political parties have started to be very supportive to the idea.
Holding independence referendum “is a national decision not a one-party decision,” Barzani said.

Fight against IS
“we are getting close to end the war against the Islamic State (IS) in Mosul, the extremist group is on the verge of defeat in the city and also in Iraq,” stating that it was a very difficult fight and it was expected to be a long fight, now we are coming to almost to the end of this chapter.
Barzani said that in the fight against IS, 1,707 Peshmerga fighters fallen 9,997 others wounded, thanking the US-led Coalition for supporting the Peshmerga forces.
Chancellor Barzani stated that IS is the bi-product of much bigger problems in Iraq, as is the result of the political system not only in Iraq but in the region, adding that to make sure we do not see another IS, we must look at the root causes led to the rise of IS organization and other similar organizations.

PKK Presence in Shingal
In relation to the presence of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in Shingal, Barzani stated that the external elements must go back to where they have come from, the presence is not helpful to the reconstruction of the area and bringing back peace to that region, hoping that PKK would understand and respect the rule of law and the administration of Shingal that have been calling for their return to where they have come from.
In addition, Barzani said the Kurdistan Region does not have problems with the PKK, they have brought their own problems into our territory, calling the PKK to respect the integrity and authorities of the Kurdistan Region and respect the will of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and of Ezidis.

Editing by