Kurdistan Democratic Party calls for closer cooperation to achieve peace, stability and prosperity.

Hoshyar Siwaily, Head of the KDP Foreign Relations leads the party’s delegation in the ICAPP Conference in Istanbul.

Speech of the Kurdistan Democratic Party at the 11th General Assembly of the International Conference of Asian Political Parties which was held on 17-20 November 2022 in Istanbul, Republic of Turkeya.

The speech was delivered by Hoshyar Siwaily, Head of the Party’s Foreign Relations Office.

• Hon. Chung-Eui Young, Chairperson of ICAPP
• Hon. Mushahid Hussain, Co-Chairperson of ICAPP.
• Hon. CHO Byung-jae- Secretary General of ICAPP.
• Hon. Efkan Ala- Deputy Chairperson of AK Parti, Chairperson of the Organizing Committee and first Vice Chairperson of the 11th General Assembly of ICAPP.

Excellencies, Distinguished participants

Ladies and Gentlemen

First, allow me to express our thanks and appreciation to ICAPP Secretariat for their efforts to enable us to participate in this event and express our thanks to AK Parti for hosting the ICAPP 11th General Assembly in Istanbul. I would also like to express our deepest condolences the families of the victims of the Terrorist attack in Istanbul. The Kurdistan Region and the whole of Iraq have stood and will stand against all kinds of terrorism including this hideous attack which was perpetrated few days ago.

Excellencies, dear participants,

As the theme of this General Assembly is “Role of Political parties in strengthening dialogue for Global peace, Prosperity and Cooperation”, I would like to, briefly, make few remarks about the role of our party in promoting peace and contributing to prosperity and cooperation in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, the Federal Iraq, the Middle East and on the global stage.

 Our party (Kurdistan Democratic Party-KDP), since its foundation in 1946, has been playing a critical role in defending the rights of the People of Kurdistan and contributing to peace, democracy, and stability in the whole of Iraq. The KDP has always believed in strong co-relation between peace, democracy, and prosperity and for most part of its history the main slogan of the Party has been Democracy for Iraq and Autonomy for Kurdistan. Lack of Democracy prior to the regime change in 2003, not only led to the denial of our legitimate rights in Iraq but led Iraq to wars and destruction.

Dear Friends.

The Kurdistan Democratic Party today is the main political Party in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and it’s an influential actor in the Iraqi Politics. It has been the lead partner in the successive governments of the Kurdistan Region since 1992 and active player the political process on the Federal level since 2003. The peace, stability, and prosperity that the Kurdistan Region enjoys today is mainly due to the commitment of the party and its leader to the core principles and values of the party and its founding father, General Mustafa Barzani. The Region’s Peshmerga has been playing an important role in securing peace and defeating terrorism in the Kurdistan Region and Iraq with the support of the international Coalition, including the Republic of Turkeya for which we sincerely grateful.   The Kurdistan Region today is a success model for peaceful co-existence, religious tolerance, and ethnic and national diversity. Our party was the first party to introduce a 25% quota system for women in our party and regional elections.

 We firmly believe that peace and stability on the global level is closely connected to and dependent on peace and stability in the Middle East. To achieve peace and stability in the Middle East, Iraq must be peaceful, democratic, and stable. These noble aims are impossible to be realized without stability, peace, and democracy in the Kurdistan Region. The Region contributed hugely to achieving these aims over the past twenty years through combating Al Qaida, ISIS and other terrorist groups. At some point over the past 10 years the number of refugees and IDPs in the Kurdistan Region reached over 2 million people and nearly a million of them still live in Kurdistan.

Dear Friends

The new Federal Iraq after 2003 was built on the principles of partnership, consensus, and Balance, all of which are enshrined in the new Federal Constitution. We, as the KDP and the also as the Kurdistan Regional Government, in coordination and collaboration with our partners in Iraq, strive to implement this constitution and improve the governance system in Iraq and promote justice and social equality. For Iraq to be able to make real and positive contributions to the global peace and prosperity, it must live up with the principles and provisions outlined in the Constitution.  

The new Iraqi Government which was formed a year after the elections of October 2021 is a broad base government and our party is part of the coalition which formed the government. The government program is an ambitious one that sets out the government priorities, which include the demands of the Kurdistan Region to solve the outstanding issues between Baghdad and Erbil with focus on the Federal Hydrocarbon Law, Revenue sharing agreement, enacting laws in relation to the formation of the Federal Court, the Federation Council, and many more important laws.  

Dear Participants of the General Assembly

Our party strives to strengthen relations between the Kurdistan Region and our neighboring countries on the bases of the principles of mutual interest, mutual respect, good neighborhood, non-interference in each other’s internal affairs. On the bases of these principles the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Kurdistan Regional Government have developed constructive relations with Justice and Development Party and the Turkish Government.

Finally, I wish our dear friends in ICAPP every success in strengthening dialogue for Global peace, Prosperity, and Cooperation between the Asian political parties to strengthen relations between nations and peoples of the World.