ERBIL, Kurdistan Region—Speaking to reporters on Sunday Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani said that his government was ready to resolve all disputes with Baghdad if the federal government was to pay the monthly salaries of Kurdish civil servants. Referring to an economic crisis that has gripped the Kurdistan Region for two years Barzani said that his government’s decision to slash civil servant salaries was part of austerity measures that had to be taken to overcome the situation. Barzani who spoke to the press on the sidelines of a major conference on combating violence against women, said that on his official visit to Turkey last week he discussed with his Turkish counterpart Binali Yildirim, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and foreign minister the bilateral relations between Erbil and Ankara, the arrest of the leaders and MPs of the pro-Kurdish Peoples Democracy Party (HDP) as well Iraq-Turkey relations. In response to a question about Iraq’s parliamentary decision on Saturday to recognize the Shiite paramilitary force of Hashd al-Shaabi as an official force with the same privileges as the army, Barzani said that the force had played a key role in the different wars and that he was pleased that it had been brought into an official and legal defense system. The Kurdish prime minister added however that the Iraqi government should have treated the Kurdish Peshmerga forces the same way. The Iraqi constitution lists the Peshmerga as part of Iraq’s defense forces and stipulates that the federal government provide their monthly budget, though this has not been the case for several years, say Kurdish leaders. In the same press conference Barzani welcomed an initiative by President Masoud Barzani last week who invited all political groups to come to the negotiating table and resolve their differences on reopening the parliament and finding a replacement for himself before next year’s elections, saying that the president is now waiting for the parties’ response to this initiative.
