ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani told a conference on Tuesday that the Kurdistan Region’s “culture of coexistence” is a model that is recognized internationally, as he called for this spirit to be strengthened at a time of threats and terrorism. He also warned that while the Iraqi army is fighting to evict ISIS from Mosul north of the autonomous Kurdish enclave, there is no serious dialogue among the various ethnic and religious groups in Mosul’s Nineveh province on how to govern post-ISIS. “ISIS will go and disappear, but if we do not confront and uproot its ideology, the same monster will reappear tomorrow in another shape and form,” Barzani said at a conference on tolerance in Erbil, attended by representatives from the various religious and ethnic communities that coexist in Kurdistan. “Kurdistan has been the home of tolerance, coexistence and diversity of ethnicities, religions and cultures since the dawn of time,” the prime minister noted. “Despite all the wars, destruction and repressions imposed on it, it has never – not even once -- lost this beautiful characteristic, and has remained the home of all religions and nations.” He hailed the “culture of coexistence and harmony” among the different people of Kurdistan as “a rare example in the world,” noting that has “has drawn the attention of the outside world and become the topic of study at many think-tanks and study groups. “One of the reasons for the protection, support and defense of the Kurdistan Region by the international community has been this culture of coexistence,” he said, adding this is the reason why “all ethnic and religious groups see Kurdistan as their home.” This, he added, is the reason “why people who have been forcefully displaced from their homes for their ethnic or religious affiliations have resorted to the Kurdistan Region.” The four-province Kurdistan Region, which had a population of about 5 million people, has swelled in recent years by some 2 million war refugees from next-door Syria and internally displaced persons (IDPs) fleeing violence in other parts of Iraq. Although Kurds are predominantly Sunni Muslim, they coexist peacefully with smaller numbers of Shiites, Christians, Jews, Yezidis and other religious and ethnic communities. “Radical ideologies, extremist lectures, wars and massacres especially against our Yezidi and Christian brothers and sisters have not affected this culture,” the Kurdish prime minister said. “But it has caused hesitation, fear, a deep wound and pain and posed a serious threat to the culture of coexistence in Kurdistan and Iraq. “We have a serious task ahead of us. In this time of threats and terrorism this spirit of tolerance and coexistence has to be strengthened,” he stressed. “In all aspects of governance, political, education and social work must be done to maintain this faith and trust among Kurdistan’s various groups and have them see Kurdistan as their home,” Barzani added. “People and government in Kurdistan must send out a clear message to those who want to destroy Kurdistan’s culture of coexistence in the name of religion or terrorize, massacre and displace followers of other beliefs in the name of one religion. They must get the message that the people of Kurdistan will not allow their thousand-year-old history of tolerance and coexistence to be destroyed,” he said. Turning his attention to Mosul, where Iraqi forces are fighting against ISIS in an offensive that began Oct. 17 with Kurdish forces and the US-led coalition, Barzani warned that the war to evict the militants may prove easier than governing Nineveh after liberation. “A political agreement is needed between the government and people of all ethnic and religious groups in Mosul for how to deal with the situation after liberation,” the prime minister emphasized. “Liberating Mosul is certainly a lot easier than running it afterwards, but unfortunately a serious intention is not seen for this reality yet. On the contrary there is evasion of responsibility which would make the threats after ISIS not less serious than when Mosul was under ISIS.” He said that, “An agreement is needed based on the political, social, geographic and demographic reality of the region of Mosul and its vicinities as the only guarantee of stability and peace for its people. It will also prevent an engulfing fire that is being tried to ignite by internal and regional powers. We should all be careful and know that this is a serious and real threat.” Barzani declared: “Defeating and eliminating terrorism is not done militarily alone. ISIS and their sympathizers are not a force to stay and last, an ISIS that is against life and existence cannot itself live long. Therefore its destruction is only a matter of time. But what is dangerous and cannot be destroyed with arms and gunpowder is the dark ideology of ISIS and their likes which is more dangerous than their acts.”
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