Daily Times

Iraqi Kurdistan is standing on the verge of historic proposed referendum for its independence. In an exclusive interview with Manish Rai, editorViewsaround. Kurdistan Foreign Minister Mr Falah Mustafa said that independent Kurdistan will not be against the interest of its neighbours. Mr Mustafa added Kurdistan will pursue the good neighbourly relations based on mutual respect, understanding, and benefit. Following is the detailed interview of Kurdish Foreign Minister;

Q: How you will pursue Kurdistan powerful neighbours like Turkey and Iran to lend support to Kurdistan?

A: Regarding the neighbourhood, we assure our neighbours that this step will not go against the interest of these nations. As a factor for stability, we have always wanted good neighbourly relations based on mutual respect, understanding, and benefit. We are for building bridges and we can assure them that the future independent Kurdistan would be a partner and ally.

We want our neighbours and the whole world to understand that we have always stood for peace. Now time has come for Erbil and Baghdad to be courageous enough to admit that we have failed and if we continue to insist on failure, we will not bring about a different outcome, therefore we believe that friends and partners should not insist on a failed one Iraq policy. In order to prevent future confrontations, we need to address this issue now. We need to be realistic to address it in such a way that it would bring about stability and security because the current situation is only a recipe for further violence and instability.

Q: After the independence of Kurdistan what relations will you pursue with Baghdad?

A: We need to communicate with Baghdad, we need to ensure that they understand our ambitions and plans, and we do not want conflict with Baghdad, but we want friendship and partnership. We believe that we can become better partners as two sovereign states. Kurdistan can become Iraq’s corridor in its relations with Turkey, Europe, and beyond. Likewise, Iraq can operate as Kurdistan’s corridor in communicating with the Gulf Countries and beyond.

It will not be the end of the world when we decide that we cannot live together under one ceiling. Looking back at history, there are other nations that have accepted to be separate peacefully, through dialogue and now they enjoy very good relations. It’s a fact of life that the Middle East region in the last hundred years had not seen stability and prosperity because of the wrong doings of the past, denial of identity, and lack of social justice.

Today there is an opportunity for us to be courageous and to admit that we have failed in bringing about a genuine partnership, therefore engaging in a serious process of negotiations and communication with Baghdad is very important so that we communicate and, we don’t make room for provocation because this is a national demand for the people of Kurdistan, not a political demand. We want Baghdad to be our partners in addressing this issue so we can do it in such a way that we secure a long term strong partnership with Baghdad. Our belief is that Baghdad is important today and tomorrow, and we seek good returns with Baghdad.

Q: What will the governance structure of the proposed independent Kurdistan be? Will it be a democratic secular republic?

A: The decision about the future governance structure of Kurdistan will be decided during our planning period of the day-after referendum. The political parties with the rest of the communities here will work together in the establishment of a new form of governance. Most importantly, as a nation that strongly believes in democratic principles and adopt them as our core values; we will make sure that our government is a democratic and representative one. We will make sure to stand for an inclusive society adhering to rights of all the communities in Kurdistan. Religious, cultural, and educational rights of the different communities in Kurdistan will be respected. Learning from our past experiences, we want to build a society where all the communities are equal partners. Whether we decide to have a parliamentary, presidency, or hybrid system, will be dependent on our political agreements made the day-after. Nevertheless, principles of human rights, empowerment of youth and women, protection of minorities, etc… Will remain to be cornerstones for our governance. The good governance and transparency, values and principles will be enshrined in our constitution.

Q: How will the constitution of the Kurdistan be drafted? Will common people have a say?

A: The draft-constitution we have for our region now was prepared by a committee then it went through the parliament, and then it was supposed to be approved by the people through a referendum. We will make sure that the people of Kurdistan have a say in their future constitution of Kurdistan.

Q: Will all the Kurdish parties accept the outcome of this referendum?

A: The referendum is a democratic process which is a practice for self-determination. All parties are obliged to respect the will of the people. There will be people who vote yes and there will be people voting no, both are acceptable in a democracy and the majority vote needs to be respected by all components of government. Examples of recent a referendum has been the Brexit one, which resulted in a very narrow margin between the yes and no votes.

Q: How will the issue of disputed territories between Irbil and Bagdad be solved?

A: People of Kurdistan in areas outside KRG Administration as well as in the Diaspora will get a vote. This vote is a yes and no answer to the question “Do you want an independent Kurdistan”. This vote is not to resolve the issues of the disputed territories. Baghdad’s failure to implement Article 140 of the Constitution (which promised a referendum on future of these territories, among other things) leaves the issue of disputed territories in Iraq unresolved. However, KRG being a responsible government, will through peaceful constructive attempts of dialogue with Baghdad or a secondary referendum in the future, work on resolving the issues of disputed territories.

Q: Some Iraqi politicians especially Former Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki declared this referendum unconstitutional. How you react to this?

A: The time when Iraq’s politics began to take a wrong direction towards unilateral rule and instability was during Former Prime Minister Al Maliki’s time. During Nawroz (March) 2012 my president sent an alarming alert to everyone in Iraq that political process of the country is taking the wrong direction. Unfortunately, no serious attention was paid to the presidents warning.

On the same note, Baghdad is unconstitutional regarding being responsible for not establishing the necessary institutions and laws for a healthy federal system. For instance, Baghdad is to be blamed for lack a Federal Council, a hydrocarbon law, a revenue sharing law, Status of the Peshmerga, resolving of article 140, etc. In addition to the breaches to the constitution, the budget of Kurdistan was cut. In the preamble of the constitution it is clearly stated that a commitment to this constitution is a guarantee for Iraq to remain united, therefore, adherence to constitution is a prerequisite for Iraq to be united. Unfortunately, despite our voluntary commitments to remain united, Baghdad breached the constitution on many occasions through exclusion of Sunni Arabs in the decision-making process arena, being hostile to the Kurds and minorities, among other marginalization attitudes and policies.

Published in Daily Times, August 12^th 2017.