Kurdistan
Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani speaking at the third conference for Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) representatives in foreign countries in Erbil on January 28, 2024. Photo: Rudaw
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) is seeking to increase its number of foreign representations abroad and is committed to fostering strong relations with the international community, Prime Minister Masrour Barzani said on Sunday.
“We are planning to increase the number of our representations abroad” especially in “several friendly and important countries that have consulates in the Kurdistan Region, in order to promote friendship and economic, cultural, scientific, and academic relations,” Barzani said at the third conference for KRG representatives in foreign countries in Erbil.
Barzani added that the number of consulates and diplomatic mission in the Kurdistan Region is increasing, as Erbil has always been a beacon of “security and stability in Iraq and the region and wants the best relations with neighboring countries and the international community.”
The KRG has 14 representations abroad, including in Germany, the United States, Spain, Italy, Australia, Iran, the United Kingdom, France, Sweden, Switzerland, Russia, Austria, and Poland, as well as a government representation at the European Union.
Barzani described the Kurdistan Region as “a stable region and the center of peaceful coexistence,” saying that the KRG has proven to be an “important and effective partner” of the international community.
“The Kurdistan Region has never been a threat to any party and we have always extended a hand of friendship to all countries in the region and the international community,” he said. “The Kurdistan Region and Iraq’s sovereignty should be respected and not violated.”
The prime minister also called on the Kurdish diaspora to play their “important and significant” role in strengthening the image of the Kurdistan Region abroad.
His remarks were echoed by Hoshyar Zebari, a veteran Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) politician and former Iraqi foreign and finance minister, who called it “vital for Kurdish representations abroad to improve their communication.”
Zebari stressed that the increasingly-threatened KRG must prepare itself for major obstacles, both domestically and internationally. He blasted the Iraqi government for “not being committed to the constitution.”
“Iraq does not want the Kurdistan Region to develop,” he said, adding that the Region’s “economy is under threat.”
Iraq has repeatedly struck down the independence of the Kurdistan Region through political pressures and rulings by the country’s top court against the Region’s economy and autonomy.
The Iraqi Federal Supreme Court ruled on May 30 against the self-extension of the Kurdistan Region’s parliament by another year as ‘unconstitutional’ after a case was filed by the New Generation Movement (NGM).
The decision came amid an ongoing row between Baghdad and Erbil over oil exports and the federal budget bill which had not been passed at the time. In February 2022, the same court ruled the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) oil and gas law from 2007 as “unconstitutional.” This prompted a reaction from Barzani, criticizing the decision for coming from an “unconstitutional” court.
The top court then ruled two articles in the federal budget that were related to the Kurdistan Region as “unconstitutional” in August. Again in September, the federal court dissolved the Region’s provincial council on the basis that their extension was “unconstitutional.”
“Our silence is not in our best interests and the world must be made aware of our problems,” Zebari said. “The decisions of the Iraqi federal court regarding the status of the Kurdistan Region are dangerous.”
On Saturday, Zebari condemned the recent attack that targeted the Khor Mor gas field in Sulaimani province.
The recent attack by some Shia militia on Khor Mor gas field in Sulimanya province is a serious escalation and a direct attack on US interests in Iraqi Kurdistan . The US has invested $250 m in the development of the field through US Development Finance Corporation.
— Hoshyar Zebari (@HoshyarZebari) January 27, 2024
Qubad Talabani, deputy KRG prime minister, said that “it is important to strengthen our [Kurdistan Region’s] relations with foreign countries” while speaking in the panel, adding that KRG representations can play an important role in expanding Erbil’s outreach.
“Kurdistan Region and Iraq are important for the powerful countries,” he said.
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