ERBIL, Kurdistan Region—The president of the Kurdistan Region, Masoud Barzani, told The Guardian newspaper on Friday that he believes Kurdish independence is around the corner. He said that a new international agreement is needed for the Middle East based on the recognition that the Sykes-Picot order is now history. "I think that within themselves, [world leaders] have come to this conclusion that the era of Sykes-Picot is over," Barzani reasoned. "Whether they say it or not, accept it or not, the reality on the ground is that. But as you know, diplomats are conservatives and they give their assessments in the late stage of things. And sometimes they can't even keep up with developments." "There must be a [new] agreement," he insisted, "it is important to see what type of agreement it is, what mechanism it can bring and rely on to formalize things, and what will be its status. When the formalization of that agreement will be is not known yet. It's illogical to continue or insist on repeating a wrong experiment that was repeated for 100 years and is leading nowhere." "Right now, Iraq is divided. We are not responsible for it. On the contrary we have done our best to preserve Iraqi unity and a democratic Iraq. In 1991, we went to Iraq and negotiated with those criminals that were responsible with the chemical bombardment, the Anfal campaign." "After 2003, we went to Baghdad and tried our best through the constitutional process. But the existing culture in Iraq is not one of co-existence. So if we can't live together we have to live with other alternatives." While he hasn't discussed independence for the Kurdistan Region with neighbouring Turkey he doesn't think they would oppose it. Barzani pointed out that attitudes and perceptions of his region have seen "a dramatic change." "To give your one example," he said, "Using Kurdistan and Kurds was forbidden in Turkey, but a month ago when I went to Turkey, the Kurdistan flag flew in the presidential palace. If you compare it to the time I have lived with, throughout all our experiences, I think it [independence] is now much closer than at any other time."
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