Kurdistan
Salahadin Bahaaddin, the general-secretary of the Kurdistan Islamic Union (KIU), speaks at the Erbil Forum 2025 on February 28, 2025. Photo. Rudaw
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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The leader of the Kurdistan Islamic Union (KIU) on Friday said he is concerned about the state of governance in the Kurdistan Region and confirmed his party will not take part in the next cabinet, arguing that they can be more effective in opposition.
Salahaddin Bahaaddin, the KIU’s secretary-general, stated during a panel at Erbil Forum 2025 that while his party maintains good relations with the ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), they have long harbored concerns about governance in the Kurdistan Region. “Rather than improving, it has backslid,” he said, adding that the current political reality prevents any party outside the ruling blocs from having a role in decision-making.
“We have observations on the performance of the government,” Bahaaddin said. “We believe these observations are legitimate and we are not willing to bear the responsibility.”
The KIU experienced a significant decline in parliamentary representation between the 2013 and 2018 elections, dropping from 10 seats to 5 seats after they participated in the government.
“We were not very careful,” the KIU leader said in reference to their joining the cabinet.
In the 2024 elections, KIU’s seats witnessed a humble jump to 7 and the party has decided to remain in opposition. It and the other opposition parties are skeptical about participating in the government, fearing that joining the KDP-PUK coalition might alienate their supporters.
The KDP and PUK, while rivals, have shared power in government since the establishment of the Kurdistan Region in the early nineties.
On the first day of the Erbil Forum, Nechirvan Barzani, president of the Kurdistan Region and deputy-chair of the KDP, announced that the KDP and PUK are the “main blocs” forming the government, and that they “need to sit together and form the government, and the other parties need to participate too.”
PUK leader Bafel Talabani on Sunday said that forming the cabinet will be complicated, though talks are progressing “very well” with the KDP.
Bahaaddin also addressed the groundbreaking letter from the jailed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan who called for the group to disarm and disband. The KIU leader said he expects a positive response from the PKK.
"Ocalan is an intellectual and political figure. He knows the best direction to route the process to the best destination," he said, adding that they are ready to help advance the peace process.
Bahaaddin also said that Kurdish forces in Syria “have to accept [Ocalan’s] message.”
The People’s Defense Units (YPG) are a Kurdish armed group in northeast Syria that is the core of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The Turkish government considers them a PKK offshoot.
Bahaaddin said “They have to understand what happened" and should not pose a threat to efforts to chart Syria’s future or the peace process in Turkey.
SDF commander Mazloum Abdi welcomed Ocalan's call to lay down arms as a positive step toward peace. However, he clarified that it does not apply to the SDF. "Ocalan’s call was directed at the PKK and its guerrillas, not directly at our region,” he stated during a press conference on Thursday.
Salih Muslim, co-chair of the Democratic Union Party (PYD), the political wing of the YPG, echoed Abdi's sentiments, emphasizing that the decision to disarm rests with the PKK and that the situation in Syria is distinct.
"The ball is now in the Turkish state's court," Muslim told the PKK-affiliated ANF News, noting that this process will happen gradually and that “the decision to dissolve itself also belongs to the PKK.”
He rejected links to the PKK.
Salahaddin Bahaaddin, the KIU’s secretary-general, stated during a panel at Erbil Forum 2025 that while his party maintains good relations with the ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), they have long harbored concerns about governance in the Kurdistan Region. “Rather than improving, it has backslid,” he said, adding that the current political reality prevents any party outside the ruling blocs from having a role in decision-making.
“We have observations on the performance of the government,” Bahaaddin said. “We believe these observations are legitimate and we are not willing to bear the responsibility.”
The KIU experienced a significant decline in parliamentary representation between the 2013 and 2018 elections, dropping from 10 seats to 5 seats after they participated in the government.
“We were not very careful,” the KIU leader said in reference to their joining the cabinet.
In the 2024 elections, KIU’s seats witnessed a humble jump to 7 and the party has decided to remain in opposition. It and the other opposition parties are skeptical about participating in the government, fearing that joining the KDP-PUK coalition might alienate their supporters.
The KDP and PUK, while rivals, have shared power in government since the establishment of the Kurdistan Region in the early nineties.
On the first day of the Erbil Forum, Nechirvan Barzani, president of the Kurdistan Region and deputy-chair of the KDP, announced that the KDP and PUK are the “main blocs” forming the government, and that they “need to sit together and form the government, and the other parties need to participate too.”
PUK leader Bafel Talabani on Sunday said that forming the cabinet will be complicated, though talks are progressing “very well” with the KDP.
Bahaaddin also addressed the groundbreaking letter from the jailed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan who called for the group to disarm and disband. The KIU leader said he expects a positive response from the PKK.
"Ocalan is an intellectual and political figure. He knows the best direction to route the process to the best destination," he said, adding that they are ready to help advance the peace process.
Bahaaddin also said that Kurdish forces in Syria “have to accept [Ocalan’s] message.”
The People’s Defense Units (YPG) are a Kurdish armed group in northeast Syria that is the core of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The Turkish government considers them a PKK offshoot.
Bahaaddin said “They have to understand what happened" and should not pose a threat to efforts to chart Syria’s future or the peace process in Turkey.
SDF commander Mazloum Abdi welcomed Ocalan's call to lay down arms as a positive step toward peace. However, he clarified that it does not apply to the SDF. "Ocalan’s call was directed at the PKK and its guerrillas, not directly at our region,” he stated during a press conference on Thursday.
Salih Muslim, co-chair of the Democratic Union Party (PYD), the political wing of the YPG, echoed Abdi's sentiments, emphasizing that the decision to disarm rests with the PKK and that the situation in Syria is distinct.
"The ball is now in the Turkish state's court," Muslim told the PKK-affiliated ANF News, noting that this process will happen gradually and that “the decision to dissolve itself also belongs to the PKK.”
He rejected links to the PKK.
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