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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — One of the most prominent Islamic politicians in the Kurdistan Region has said that the time has come for his party to shed its “Islamic” label in a wide-ranging interview with Rudaw.
Ali Bapir, the head of the Kurdistan Islamic Group (Komal), one of the main three Islamic parties currently active in Kurdish politics also urged the Kurdish ruling parties to look closely at their conduct in the Kurdistan Region and practice what they preach to Baghdad.
Komal was established in 2001 after a group of young armed Islamists led by Bapir splintered from the main party, the Islamic Movement of Kurdistan (IMK) and started participating in the Kurdish political process following the overthrow of Saddam Hussein's regime in 2003.
“I have argued in a number of books … that according to the reading of the current realities, we need to make changes in our name, in the way we work, in our symbolism and methods,” Bapir told Rudaw’s Hawraz Gulpi in an interview recorded on Wednesday.
Bapir has presided over three party congresses, with a fourth planned once the coronavirus pandemic is over. He said that removing the Islamic ‘label’ comes down to the party’s next congress and what they decide but added “I think in this current environment … it is better to do that.”
It is an unprecedented suggestion from an Islamic politician in the Kurdistan Region and is bound to have some repercussions for the veteran politician, not just from within his own party but from the larger Islamic groups in the Kurdistan Region.
“Prophet Mohammad’s government was not an Islamic State but just a state, it was a political entity. The same applies to the four successors of Prophet Mohammad,” the 59 -year-old politician, who spent time in an American jail, told Rudaw.
Bapir fought against Saddam Hussein’s regime in the 1980s as a Peshmerga fighter. In the 1990s as a member of the IMK, he was considered as a learned scholar and charismatic commander of IMK young Islamic fighters.
After splitting from IMK in 2000 and establishing Komal, he stayed in the Halabja area adjacent to the Iranian border where extremists had established an Islamic emirate.
When the Americans attacked extremists elements of the Ansar al-Islam group in March 2003 forces loyal to Bapir became collateral damage. Around two dozens of his armed Islamic forces were killed.
Bapir maintained that he had no links with the extremist’s elements of Ansar al–Islam. Four months after the attack, Bapir and three of his companions were whisked away by American forces in Sulaimani province.
Bapir spent 659 days in US custody and was finally released on April 28, 2005.
The politician spoke critically of the conduct of the two main ruling parties - the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK).
“If we continue the same rhythm as now, the result won’t be good… on the one hand, the livelihood of most people is becoming more and more difficult. On the other hand, a small minority and people affiliated with them have no problem as they benefit from the riches in an illegal way,” Bapir said.
Bapir says while he supports the rights of people to demonstrate peacefully, he is concerned given the sensitivities of the wider region, and the Kurdistan Region in particular, and urged protesters to stay peaceful.
He praised the role of President Nechirvan Barzani in the past in bringing both the PUK and the KDP together to make amends, but warned about a divided political landscape in the Kurdistan Region.
“These meetings were very good and we thanked him [President Barzani] for his efforts, the situation was calmer and we were more united in terms of presenting our views to Baghdad,” Bapir told Rudaw from his home in Erbil.
Bapir believes that the Kurdish political scene is in disorder and should speak to Baghdad with a united voice instead of individual political parties.
“It is important that we speak to Baghdad as the Kurdistan Region but now we are dealing with Baghdad as a political party, the KDP and the PUK and even other parties go and deal with Baghdad as a party,” Bapir said.
“We need to speak as Kurdistan region but we also need to behave as the Kurdistan Region internally, not as two administrations,” he added.
The jury is still out, Bapir believes, when it comes to the success of Iraq Prime Minister Mustafa Kadhimi in dealing with the multitude of challenges that Iraq faces, saying “we need to wait and be patient.”
Turkish bombing of Kurdistan Region
The politician also criticized Turkey and the Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK) for bringing their war to the Kurdistan Region, and urged both parties to pursue dialogue.
Turkey launched its latest air and ground operation in mid-June against the PKK. Since then, at least 8 Kurdish civilians have been killed and around a dozen wounded in Turkish airstrikes.
The PKK has fought the Turkish state since 1984 for rights of the Kurdish minority in the country. More than 40,000 people, soldiers and PKK militants have been killed in the process. Turkey has crossed into Iraq numerous times, deploying tens of thousands of troops to root out the PKK, but to no avail.
“It is true that Turkey is a neighbor, but in terms of bombing and shelling the border areas of South Kurdistan [Kurdistan Region], we are certainly unhappy. It is concerning and many people are displaced,” Bapir said.
“We also need to be subjective and see the other side’s position. They [Turkey] say that they have a reason; there is a force [PKK] which is benefiting from south Kurdistan and detrimental to [Turkey].”
The PKK and Turkey entered into negotiations from 2013 until 2015, when hostilities resumed. Bapir said that his party was happy about the negotiations and encouraged both parties to continue talking to each other.
Asked if the PKK has taken into account the situation in the Kurdistan Region when in pursuit of its goals, Bapir responded “If they had, it would not be like this, no, I don’t think they have taken it into account. The PKK, as a Kurdistani force, it is true that is demanding rights for a section of people in Kurdistan, but you can’t sacrifice what you have now [Kurdistan Region], a reality, for something that you may obtain.“
Bapir was dismayed by the insistence of Turkey in using force against its foes, in particular the PKK.
“We have told them and the opposing side, the PKK that they should think about another way and abandon the logic of force and rely on the force of logic, to sit down together and listen to each other. That is the way I see as right,” Bapir said.
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