His Excellency president Masoud Barzani released a statement On the occasion of the Kurdish New year and the Newroz celebrations. The current situation in Kirkuk and the other areas, resulting from treason and the imposition of force, will

In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate

On the occasion of the Kurdish New year and the Newroz celebrations, I would like to congratulate the People of Kurdistan, wishing everyone happiness, joy and delight. Newroz always embodies the meaning of freedom and new beginning for the People of Kurdistan.

The Struggle of the People of Kurdistan to achieve freedom has been going on for a long time during which the People has never resorted to fighting as a choice rather as a self-defence which is a legitimate right. At all times and during all the stages of the struggle, the People of Kurdistan has opted for solving the problems in a peaceful way and away from violence. They have extended hands of peace during all the available opportunities.

With regard to the referendum, we have, on numeral occasions prior to and after the referendum, stressed that our goal is peace and a radical solution to all the issues in a peaceful manner. Referendum is a legitimate right and it always exists. Nobody can deprive the People of Kurdistan from this right. The debate should be on how to implement this right. Within Kurdistan, unfortunately, some of the parties who were keen supporters of the referendum and were determined to conduct it,  later run away from their responsibilities and distanced themselves from its outcome while the vote of the People of Kurdistan for independence was neither wrong nor a crime. It was a result of injustice and the absence of real partnership. If partnership and the constitution were respected, the situation in Iraq would have been much better now with much less problems.

The Iraqi parties were initially very open to this legitimate right of the People of Kurdistan and they had an understanding for the peaceful and benevolent objective of the People of Kurdistan. With regret, some of them later used the denial of this right for their own political aims and responded to the peaceful vote of the People of Kurdistan with blockades and violence. The latest events proved once again that fighting is not a solution to the problems. We hope that the latest developments coupled with the previous lessons and experiences compel all the sides to resolve all the problems and the Kurdish issue through dialogue, peace and mutual understanding in the Region.

The current situation in Kirkuk and the other areas, resulting from treason and the imposition of force, will never be accepted as a de-facto reality. It has to be normalised and resolved in accordance with Article 140. There must be legal proceedings against the genocide, atrocities and deportations which were perpetrated in October in those areas in particular in Tuz Khurmatu.

While we view the current opening in relations between KRG and Baghdad positively and welcome it, we hope that dialogue and understanding between both sides continue to resolve all the issues.

We understand the concerns of our neighbouring countries and their right to protect their interests. But at the same time they have to recognize the rights of the People of Kurdistan, after one hundred years of calamities and persecution, to express their voice. They must have reached the conclusion that fighting and violence have never been chosen by the People of Kurdistan and they have never benefited anyone and will never do.    

During the previous years some elements inside Kurdistan Region tried to destabilise the Region and tried all the methods, knocked all the doors and created different kinds of obstacles but they achieved nothing. If they continue on the same futile path in the future, they will fail again.

I hope that everyone in Kurdistan has realised that the prime way to attain the rights of our People is through unity and getting together under the umbrella of the common and supreme interests of our People.  The only solution is that all the sides in Kurdistan submit to the will of the People which manifests itself in unity, fraternity and joint struggle.

It is a great regret that Afrin is facing such fighting and painful events which have put people’s lives and their well-being under threat. The scenes we see   from Afrin are heart-breaking. Fighting between combatants is something and humiliating treatment of women, children, the national symbols of a people and killing of innocent citizens is something else. These inhumane acts must be stopped. I hope that killings and displacement of people will end. The way forward is resolving all the outstanding issues through peaceful dialogue and political engagement. I also hope the Kurdish political Parties in Syria can achieve their political rights through peaceful means and unity of their ranks while at the same time I call upon all the parties to respect the right of the Kurdish People in Syria.

In conclusion and on this national and patriotic occasion, I wish the opening of a new page of unity and harmony between all the political parties in Kurdistan and happiness to every single citizen of Kurdistan.

I also salute the honourable families of the martyrs and the brave Peshmerga. Happy Newroz to you all.     

Masoud Barzani

20/03.2018