ERBIL, Kurdistan Region—Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani said on Sunday that Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) policy is that Kurdistan Region territories must not be used for attacks against any neighbouring countries and that the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) must keep its conflict out of the KRG so that innocent civilians do not pay the price of a war that the “KRG is neither involved in nor wants to.”
Speaking to the media, Prime Minister Barzani also said that ISIS as an organization in control of big cities was gone and its threat greatly diminished thanks to Kurdish-Iraqi efforts with backing from the coalition forces, especially the United States.
However, he warned, ISIS still existed as a real threat and for that he believes American troops must stay in Iraq until that threat is fully eliminated.
Here is the full transcript of KRG Prime Minister Barzani’s remarks on the PKK presence in the Kurdistan Region, Erbil-Ankara efforts to address the issue of cross-border air strikes as well as the need for American and coalition forces to stay and combat the remaining ISIS threat.
As you all know, an unfortunate incident happened yesterday in Shiladze. Here I want to express my condolences and sympathy to the person who was martyred and his family as well as those wounded.
What happened was certainly sad. But I want to emphasize once again that the official policy of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) is that we absolutely do not want our land to be used against any of our neighbours.
What causes these incidents is that some parties use KRG territories to create trouble for our neighbours. For us at the KRG this is absolutely unacceptable.
We do understand these people’s right to protest and protesting has been regulated by the law and it is all clear how it should be done. But when efforts are made to derail peaceful protests and turn them violent is in no way acceptable by the KRG.
We will establish an inquiry committee for this case and will study it in earnest so that this kind of incident does not happen again.
Unfortunately, a number of people have been killed in Turkish air strikes recently. But the question is where did those air strikes take place. Did it take place in a village? No. It happened in areas where the PKK is present. It is because of the presence of the PKK that those air strikes occur. There is a cause and that cause is the PKK.
The answer is not to attack Turkish bases in that area. The answer is to talk to the Kurdistan Regional Government. We have to solve the issue that causes these air strikes. If there are no PKK in those areas there will be no excuse for Turkish air strikes.
Local authorities have also always cautioned people not to venture beyond certain areas as there is the risk of air strikes. But unfortunately they sometimes ignore these instructions and as a result these incidents happen.
Of course we do also try with Turkey to make sure that these incidents do not occur again. But it is all clear, the reason is the PKK presence.
The Turkish foreign minister and I had a telephone conversation and the optic of our phone call was the incident that took place in Shiladze. We stressed that the Kurdistan Regional Government will take all legal measures to try anyone who has tried to change the course of the protests which was peaceful in the beginning and it was their right. But later on some people among them changed the course of the protests. I emphasized that we will investigate this incident.
As the Kurdistan Regional Government our responsibility is the protection of the citizens of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. But unfortunately, some opposition groups of our neighbouring countries without any consideration of the interests of the Kurdistan Region and its people they use territories of the Kurdistan Region to attack or cause our neighbours trouble.
Let’s ask ourselves this question: Which country or which logic would accept something like this? Even if we put ourselves in their shoes, would this be rational?
Is it acceptable for you to come and use Kurdistan Region land as a safe-haven for yourself , train and organize yourself then go cause the neighbouring countries trouble. Who will then pay the price? People of the Kurdistan Region. That is the case in Shiladze and on the Iran borders in Sulaimani, too.
We are paying the price for something we are neither involved in nor want to be.
They must stop these acts and Kurdistan Region territories must never be used against any of our neighbours. We are serious about this issue.
Unfortunately during the four or five years we were busy fighting ISIS they exploited it as an opportunity and cause the Kurdistan Region problems.
We are saddened when our citizens become such targets and get martyred. That is not something we are happy about. But local administrations including mayors have constantly warned people of going to certain areas as there will be the possibility of air strikes. Why? Because the PKK is there. Why is the PKK there? To train and go inside Turkey and cause trouble there the price of which our people will pay.
The ISIS threat
ISIS is the enemy of us all. ISIS is the enemy of Baghdad, Erbil and other countries. In this regard the Kurdistan Regional Government has full cooperation with Baghdad. In terms of information exchange our cooperation is much better than before.
ISIS is no longer there as an organization in control of big cities thanks to the efforts of everyone and the blood and sacrifice of the Peshmerga, the Iraqi army, the Hashd al-Shaabi, the federal police and of course with support from the coalition forces. That threat has now been diminished. But that does not mean ISIS is finished. ISIS is not finished in this country.
On the presence of American troops in this country, we believe that as long as there is an ISIS threat in this country which there is and is real, it is necessary that American forces stay in this country to support Iraqi forces. That is our opinion at the Kurdistan Regional Government. That is in the best interest of Iraq.
If God forbid ISIS comes back with force as it did that time Iraq will face a huge a disaster. We should not forget that ISIS reached the gates of Baghdad and got close to Erbil. What stopped and ended ISIS was the support of the coalition forces chief among them the United States.
That ISIS threat isn’t over completely. We believe that until the end of the ISIS threat coalition forces should stay in this country.
No force has come from Syria to the Kurdistan Region. A lot is being said about that but no American soldier has come to the Kurdistan Region.
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