Referendum through dialogue, negotiation

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (K24) – Head of Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) Foreign Relations Office Hemin Hawrami said on Wednesday that Kurds do not want to be part of a broken Iraq any longer.

In a seminar organized by John Hopkins University in Washington, DC, Hawrami emphasized that Kurdistan Region is an effective factor in creating peace in the Middle East.

Hawrami added that Kurdistan Region does not want to be negatively affected by failed states in the region anymore and that Kurds want to resolve this issue through dialogue and negotiation.

He highlighted that Federalism in Iraq has not been successful so far, and the important question is whether after destroying IS if similar issues will be repeated, or if another plan should be applied.

Hawrami stressed that former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s incorrect policies was one of the reasons behind IS' invasion. Maliki did not heed President Masoud Barzani’s warnings in early 2014 regarding the risks involving extremism in certain parts of the country.

Calling IS the most dangerous terrorist organization, Hawrami stressed that the group is different from other Jihadi groups such as al-Qaeda.

He reminded the audience that shortly after President Barzani mentioned the referendum in Kurdistan Region Parliament in 2014, IS insurgents invaded the Region.

Pointing to the borders between Yemen and Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Iraq and Syria, Hawrami underscored that some previously drawn borders have been dismantled and that they were never created based on peoples' interest.

As for liberating Mosul, Hawrami stressed that KRG is willing to implement this plan but because the Iraqi Federal Government is not militarily ready for the operation, it may be postponed.

Hawrami revealed that recently the Peshmerga liberated 27,000 square kilometers (nearly 17,000 miles) from IS control.

Reporting by Gulala Khaled
Editing by Ava Homa