Mr Barzani: Kurdistan has not taken an opposite direction to the Iraqi constitution, On the Kurdistan oil policy

Kurdistan-Region President Massoud Barzani received a delegation from On the Kurdistan oil policy based in Washington DC that held their annual conference in Erbil which was participated by academics, international diplomats and politicians.

 

The delegation, led by Ms Wendy Chamberlin who is the head of the Middle East Institute, thanked Mr Barzani for the opportunity of their meeting and spoke of the activities which derived from their conference.

 

After warmly welcoming the delegation, Mr Barzani expressed his wishes for success in their duties then briefly spoke about the political history of Iraq, explaining the problems and dilemmas faced by the Iraqi people over the past 90 years.

 

Mr Barzani also pointed out that although Iraq consists of two main nationalities, the Kurdish people are deprived of the national and democratic rights as a result of ethnic discrimination and national persecution against them, and fought a defensive war for Kurdish existence and identity from the 1920s until 1991. He also stated it was after the fall of the Baa’ath regime that led to an opportunity for Iraqis to build a new state based on federalism and democracy.

 

On the Kurdistan oil policy, Mr Barzani said Kurdistan has not taken an opposite direction to the Iraqi constitution and remains in accordance with the agreement between the region and Baghdad, which both have signed oil deals pending approval of oil and gas law.

 

The suspended salaries of Kurdistans’ civil servants was also in discussion where Mr Barzani stressed there is still a chance to resolve the outstanding issues but warned it will not tolerate a threat to the livelihood of Kurdish people and will resort to alternate methods in attempt to secure their side of the agreement.

  

Conclusively, Mr Barzani answered questions submitted to him on the future of the Kurds in Iraq, the upcoming Iraqi elections, the Syrian crisis and Kurdistan’s neighbouring relations.