Former US Ambassador: ‘Kurdish leadership responsible for independence’

WASHINGTON, United States (Kurdistan24) – A former US Ambassador recently said achieving Kurdish independence is the responsibility of the political party leaderships in the Kurdistan Region.

Zalmay Khalilzad, a former US Ambassador to Iraq and current counselor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), spoke to Kurdistan24 about Kurdistan’s independence.

The former Ambassador called on the Kurdish leadership to focus on the “bigger picture” rather than their partisan differences if they want to gain independence from Baghdad.

“[The Kurdish leaders] need to focus on the big picture not squabble about little things putting the big picture at risk,” he said.

“I think America should do what it can to help, but really the responsibility is with the Kurdish leaders,” he continued.

Additionally, Khalilzad discussed the upcoming Mosul operation against the Islamic State (IS) who have occupied the city since 2014.

The CSIS counselor explained that the “unresolved questions” regarding post-Mosul liberation must be resolved.

These issues include the city’s governance, the role of Turkey, and the future of the Shia militia Hashd al-Shaabi.

“There has been a lot of progress in cooperation between [the] US, Kurdistan, and Iraq about Mosul but there are also quite a few issues that are still unresolved,” Khalilzad stated.

“I worry about these unresolved questions, and I hope that a lot of attention is paid to resolve them as soon as possible,” he concluded.

(Kurdistan24 team in Washington, DC conducted the interview)