The head of the Kurdistan Foreign Relations Department, Fatah Mustafa, stressed today that Kurdistan would never politically surrender to brazen economic actions taken by the Iraqi government, reports Rudaw.
Mustafa called for equal power sharing to address the Kurdish desire for complete independence from Iraq.
Responding to a question on tension between Baghdad and Erbil regarding oil production, Mustafa said,
“Oil is not the only issue. There’s the status of Peshmarga. [Baghdad refuses to pay budget for Kurdish security forces.] The best solution is to form a confederation, where we move to two or three sovereign states within the boundaries of Iraq so that we can have equal powers and equal rights. That would be only fair considering the suffering and the tragic history of Kurdish people.”
“In 2005, the Kurdish people voted in a referendum that was organised by civil society institutions. 97.5 percent of people voted for an independent Kurdish state. There for, the Kurdish leadership is under huge pressure to manage the expectations of people, For Baghdad to come back and as us to surrender to their will would be impossible,” he added responding to questions regarding intensifying calls for Kurdish independence.
“This is the time when Iraqis can either sort out their differences and establish a federal government following the constitution in the spirit of democracy and pluralism, or the Kurdish people will be obliged to go their own way towards a referendum. We cannot continue like this, not to have power over economic or cultural issues. Bagdad is waging economic warfare against the region so that we will politically surrender. This will not happen. The time has come to make it clear that either Baghdad accepts us as equal partners or we will go in different directions,” concluded the Foreign Relations head.