Barzani...march forward with sovereignty & independence

[Anthea]

Barzani renews call on Kurdish parties to meet over referendum, despite deadlock

Kurdish president Masoud Barzani called on political factions in Kurdistan Region on Tuesday to come together and “find common grounds” on the much anticipated Kurdish referendum.

“Hopefully after the Eid [Fitr] the parties and political groups in the Kurdistan Region will gather and find common ground on the referendum and the Region’s relation with Baghdad,” Barzani said in a statement on Tuesday marking the end of the fasting month of Ramadan.

President Barzani also hopes the Kurdish factions will “find a solution for the political situation in the Region” which has been in a deadlock since November last year when relations between the ruling and opposition parties deteriorated over the constitution draft and the presidents terms in office.

Aides close to Barzani have said the Kurdish referendum for independence will go ahead before the end of 2016 in spite of the ongoing impasse in the parliament, the endorsement of which is needed to legally hold a binding referendum.

Anthea: I am proud to say that one of my friends was involved in organising the earlier referendum - let us hope the trouble-making Gorran do not cause too many problems

Over 98 percent of the people in Kurdistan Region voted for independence in January 2005 in a non-binding referendum, which demonstrated the strong Leave camp in the otherwise politically fragmented Kurdistan region.

If held, the referendum will also include retaken areas, such as the volatile Kirkuk region, with mixed populations who will decide whether they want to become part of the Kurdistan Region and possibly a future Kurdish state too.

http://rudaw.net/english/middleeast/iraq/050720163

[Piling]

Since 2 years, it is just the 100 call about that.

[Anthea]

Since 2 years, it is just the 100 call about that.

Sadly now that Gorran are involved it may take another 100 calls

[Anthea]

Barzani: We’ve a choice go backwards with
status quo or march forward with independence

Kurdistan President Masoud Barzani has expressed his disappointment that a Kurdish delegation was not invited to the anti-Islamic State summit in Washington last week and he reminded everyone the high price Kurdistan and Kurdish people have paid during the war with ISIS.

“The people of the Kurdistan Region have paid a heavy price in our ongoing war against the terrorists of the Islamic State. The Peshmerga forces with their bravery and sacrifices have drastically weakened the terrorists and have proven once again that they are an essential anti-terror force in the region,” said Barzani in a statement published on his official Facebook page on Monday.

“In spite of this very obvious fact, the Iraqi Minister of Foreign Affairs recently created obstacles for a Kurdish representative to be present in the last anti-Islamic State summit in Washington. Unfortunately the hosts of that summit went along with the Iraqi Foreign Minister,” he continued.

Barzani said that the Kurdish people are in need of their own sovereignty where they will be able to make their own decisions.

“This type of treatment cannot be accepted and we are indeed in need of our own sovereignty where we are able to determine our fate,” he added.

Barzani made it clear for the people of Kurdistan that now is time to make a decision and there is a choice to make, “The first of which is to accept the status quo where others determine our fate while we march backward. The other choice is to make a collective decision and take serious steps towards sovereignty and independence.”

The Kurdistan Regional Government’s representative in Washington, Bayan Sami Abdul Rahman, was able to attend the conference at the last minute but the Region was unable to prepare a formal delegation.

http://rudaw.net/english/kurdistan/250720163

[Anthea]

Kurdish president announces move towards ‘own sovereignty’
Reporting by: Wladimir van Wilgenburg

The President of Iraqi Kurdistan Masoud Barzani has criticized the Iraqi foreign ministry and the US for tolerating the Iraqi government behavior in creating obstacles for the Kurds to prevent them from participating in important coalition meetings in Washington.

As a result of lobbying work of the Kurds and pressure, finally the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) representative was added to the Iraqi delegation to Washington at the last moment.

The KRG’s foreign relations head Falah Mustafa previously told ARA News that the Kurds need proper representation in anti-ISIS meetings –that took place last week on 20 and 21 July– since Kurds play a crucial role in the fight against ISIS and giving humanitarian support to displaced people from Mosul.

“The Peshmerga forces with their bravery and sacrifices have drastically weakened the terrorists and have proven once again that they are an essential anti-terror force in the region,” President Barzani said.

“In spite of this very obvious fact, the Iraqi Minister of Foreign Affairs recently created obstacles for a Kurdish representative to be present in the last anti-Islamic State summit in Washington,” he added.

The Kurdish president also blamed the United States as a host of the summit. “Unfortunately the hosts of that summit went along with the Iraqi Foreign Minister. This is a mere one example of many where the people of the Kurdistan Region and their aspirations are deliberately neglected in accordance to the personal mood of certain individuals,” he said.

“This type of treatment cannot be accepted and we are indeed in need of our own sovereignty where we are able to determine our fate,” the Kurdish president said, indicating that the KRG might hold a referendum on Kurdish independence before the US presidential elections.

Therefore, the Kurdish president concluded that the Kurds in Iraq have only two choices: accepting the status quo, or move towards independence. “With the aid of His Almighty and the will of the people of the Kurdistan Region, it will become clear to us in the near future as to who would rather trail behind, obeying the orders of others and who would choose sovereignty,” the president concluded.

According to Ceng Sagnic, a researcher with the Tel Aviv-based Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies, the statement of the KRG president is not related to the conference in Washington, but to the fact that rival Kurdish parties do not back the referendum.

“I don’t think it’s related to the conference in DC, but more about Kurdish domestic politics. Barzani’s initiative to hold a referendum on independence is not supported by PUK [Patriotic Union of Kurdistan] and Goran and this statement seems to be a signal of unilateral action by KDP to hold the referendum,” Sagnic told ARA News.

“Also the KRG High Elections Committee released a statement today which was not a coincidence that they are ready to hold the referendum in four months and that there are no obstacles to hold the referendum in the disputed territories,” he added.

http://aranews.net/2016/07/kurdish-pres ... vereignty/