Former Iceland Justice Minister Ogmundur Jonasson (right) speaking Rudaw's Nwenar fatih (left) on February 4, 2024. Photo: Rudaw
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - While a strong, democratic Kurdistan Region strengthens the Kurdish cause, attacks on the Region aim to undermine it, an Icelandic politician told Rudaw on Sunday.
“I think everybody realizes that a strong democratic Iraqi Kurdistan strengthens the cause of Kurds everywhere in Turkey and Rojava [northeast Syria], and in Iran,” Ogmundur Jonasson, former Iceland minister of justice, told Rudaw’s Nwenar Fatih in an interview on Sunday.
According to Jonasson, the geopolitical pressure exerted on the Kurdistan Region by neighboring countries, through attacks from Iran and its proxies, as well as Turkey, aims to deter the Region’s influence on the Kurdish cause.
“This is why we see that Baghdad wants to undermine Iraqi Kurdistan, not in order only to undermine this country [Kurdistan Region], but their role in the Kurdish cause in the whole region,” Jonasson said.
The Kurdistan Region has come under a barrage of attacks by Iran, Turkey, and Iran-backed militia groups over the past few months on the basis of various pretexts. Turkey claims to target the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) which it labels as a terrorist group, Iran claims to be targeting “anti-Iranian groups”, while Iran-backed militia groups target the US-led international coalition against the Islamic State (ISIS) in response to Washington’s support for Israel in its war on the Gaza Strip.
In mid-January, Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) attacked with ballistic missiles a residence in Kurdistan Region’s capital of Erbil, under the pretext of targeting a “spy headquarters” belonging to Israel’s Mossad Intelligence. The target in question was the residence home of Kurdish businessman Peshraw Dizayee, who died in the attack along with his daughter Zhina and two others.
“I think everybody realizes that a strong democratic Iraqi Kurdistan strengthens the cause of Kurds everywhere in Turkey and Rojava [northeast Syria], and in Iran,” Ogmundur Jonasson, former Iceland minister of justice, told Rudaw’s Nwenar Fatih in an interview on Sunday.
According to Jonasson, the geopolitical pressure exerted on the Kurdistan Region by neighboring countries, through attacks from Iran and its proxies, as well as Turkey, aims to deter the Region’s influence on the Kurdish cause.
“This is why we see that Baghdad wants to undermine Iraqi Kurdistan, not in order only to undermine this country [Kurdistan Region], but their role in the Kurdish cause in the whole region,” Jonasson said.
The Kurdistan Region has come under a barrage of attacks by Iran, Turkey, and Iran-backed militia groups over the past few months on the basis of various pretexts. Turkey claims to target the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) which it labels as a terrorist group, Iran claims to be targeting “anti-Iranian groups”, while Iran-backed militia groups target the US-led international coalition against the Islamic State (ISIS) in response to Washington’s support for Israel in its war on the Gaza Strip.
In mid-January, Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) attacked with ballistic missiles a residence in Kurdistan Region’s capital of Erbil, under the pretext of targeting a “spy headquarters” belonging to Israel’s Mossad Intelligence. The target in question was the residence home of Kurdish businessman Peshraw Dizayee, who died in the attack along with his daughter Zhina and two others.
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