ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – On the heels of Kurdistan Region President Massoud Barzani’s visit to Russia earlier this month, Baghdad announced that Iraqi Premier Nuri al-Maliki was planning his own trip to Moscow.
During his June 19 visit, Barzani met with Gazprom Chairman Alexey Miller and signed a new deal with the oil giant to join Kurdistan’s oil boom. Gazprom is already among two dozen foreign oil companies that operate in the Kurdistan Region.
This was Barzani’s second visit to Russia. In February he met with President Vladimir Putin, only two weeks after a visit by Maliki to Moscow, where he signed a $4 billion weapons deal.
It was widely believed that Barzani’s February visit was to investigate the possibility of buying weapons for the autonomous region’s armed forces, particularly after Barzani was seen in a video clip test-firing a cannon launcher. Back then, the office of the Kurdish president rejected such claims.
Kamal Saaidi, a politician from Maliki’s Dawa party says, “I am not sure what Barzani has talked about in Russia, but I think he wanted to learn more about Iraq’s weapons deals with Moscow.”
Some observers believe that Maliki’s next visit to Russia is to buy weapons for Iraq, especially since his country was relieved from the United Nations’ Chapter 7 sanctions, allowing Baghdad to manufacture and acquire weapons.
Hassan Alawi, a well-known Iraqi scholar and member of parliament, says that Maliki and Barzani’s visits to Russia are not a coincidence.
“In politics there is no such thing as coincidence,” Alawi says. “The overlap of Barzani and Maliki’s visit shows that both sides are deeply concerned. As the Kurds fear Iraq acquiring heavy weaponry and a possible repetition of past crimes against them, Baghdad is worried that Barzani might persuade the Russians into a weapons deal of his own,” he adds.
From Russia Barzani flew to Paris, where he met French President Francios Hollande. There, he spoke about the relations between Baghdad and Erbil, saying that since Maliki’s visit to Erbil earlier this month, “there has been more openness and grounds for dialogue” between both sides.
He also spoke of the role of the Kurds in the future of Syria, saying, “The Kurdish people strive for democracy and only democracy can solve the crisis in Syria.”
