ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – The Kurdistan Region is ready to provide all necessary assistance to the new Iraqi cabinet in its quest to solve a long list of problems that have riddled the country’s institutions, Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani said Wednesday in a top regional forum in Erbil, adding that both federal and regional governments must learn from their mistakes to progress as a nation. Speaking during the concluding panel of the forum, Barzani affirmed that the Kurdistan Region is keen to witness the development of Iraq as the country appears to be emerging from a crippling political turmoil which left the crisis-hit country without a permanent government for over a year. “The Kurdistan Region wants to seriously assist the success of the new Iraqi prime minister and the new Iraqi cabinet … You cannot separate Baghdad from the Region,” Barzani said, adding that Baghdad’s issues must only be resolved through the framework of the Iraqi constitution which has been heavily ignored by previous cabinets in Iraq as well as the Region. While mentioning the failures of the Iraqi federal government to properly implement the constitution, Barzani stressed the need for new Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani’s cabinet to steer away from the mistakes of the previous cabinets and to spearhead Iraq towards a new path of reform, focusing heavily on relations with Erbil which have been the subject of high tensions. “We have reached the point where we must help each other to resolve our problems. Iraq’s problems are not easy to resolve,” the president continued, expressing full confidence that the success and political stability of the Kurdistan Region is also the success of Iraq. “We need to find the formula for the resolution of Iraq’s solutions and to live in this geographical area called Iraq,” he said. Sudani, who formed Iraq’s government on Thursday during a tense parliamentary session, has enjoyed relative backing from political fronts in the Iraqi parliament, with the Shiite majority as well as the Sunni and Kurdish minority backing the new premier. Barzani believes this backing can distinguish Sudani from his predecessor, Mustafa al-Kadhimi, who lacked support from major political players in the country. “I believe the responsibility on his [Sudani’s] shoulders is much more. Iraq is in a transitional period and in order to reach a state where we have opposition, it needs a lot of work,” the president said, urging support for the new Iraqi leader. However, despite Barzani’s vocal support for Iraq, he called on Baghdad to reciprocate the same remarks towards Erbil. “The golden question is: does Baghdad want a stable Iraq politically and economically? For the stability of this Iraq, the first condition is the resolution of issues with the Kurdistan Region,” he affirmed. Baghdad-Erbil oil and gas issues The Iraqi government has been in a feud with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) over its oil policy for many months, one which escalated following a February ruling by Iraq’s top court targeting the Region’s oil and gas law. Tensions between Erbil and Baghdad have been high since the Iraqi top court in February ruled against the ability for the Kurdistan Region to administer its own natural resources, hence striking down the independence of the Region’s oil and gas sector and deeming it as “unconstitutional,” subsequently launching a mass pressure campaign against international oil companies (IOCs) in the Region in an attempt to force their exit from the area. “Baghdad’s view of the Kurdistan Region must change. The Region is a partner of Baghdad,” President Barzani strongly stated, adding that Erbil sees the Sudani government as a last opportunity to solve the problems between the two governments. The Iraq-Turkey pipeline, also known as the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline, is jointly owned by both states according to an agreement from 1973. The dispute arose in 2014 when the Iraqi army withdrew from Kirkuk and the Peshmerga started pushing back the Islamic State (ISIS) from the city. Ankara agreed to continue purchasing the oil from the Kurdistan Region, an act deemed as illegal by Baghdad. The dispute in arbitration was then taken to the the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) in Paris, with a final ruling still pending. President Barzani stated that in his opinion, taking the case to court was a mistake and even if the ruling is made in Iraq’s favour, it would still be a loss for Baghdad, adding that the solution is dialogue. “If Iraq thinks that taking this to the arbitration court will fix this issue, it will not. We are neighbors and Iraq is a primary partner with Turkey.” He affirmed that Erbil is willing to help mediate talks between Ankara and Baghdad to help resolve the matter. Barzani blamed the Iraqi government for linking the issue of oil disputes to the country’s sovereignty. “Whenever we discuss oil, they [Iraq] link it to sovereignty. Our perspective is quite different to that of Iraq. We want this trade to be at the serve of all of Iraq, but they immediately link it to the sovereignty of Iraq,” Barzani stated, labeling Erbil as a partner of Baghdad and calling on the federal government to change its perception of the KRG. While uttering his remarks towards Baghdad, the president admitted that the blame is not entirely on Iraq to shoulder and that the Kurdistan Region is also responsible for mistakes that have been made. The Iraqi government has threatened foreign companies to suspend their operations in the Kurdistan Region’s oil sector and warned against new contracts with the KRG, with former oil minister Ihsan Abdul Jabbar warning IOCs that should they continue operations northward in the Region, then they will be “working in the smuggling of oil.” After he was tasked with the formation of the new government and appointed prime minister-designate, Sudani said that the upcoming Iraqi government will be committed to working “according to the constitution” in strengthening the relationship between Erbil and Baghdad in efforts to “settle disputes and issues that have been lingering for a long time.” The two-day Middle East Research Institute (MERI) forum concluded in the Kurdistan Region’s capital of Erbil and was attended by dozens of local and international leaders and experts, including President Barzani, Prime Minister Masrour Barzani, Deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani, UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) head Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, as well as ambassadors of the US, EU, and Russia.
