US 'not quiet' on Turkey-PKK conflict: Ambassador to Iraq

US Ambassador to Iraq Matthew Tueller spoke with Rudaw's Roj Eli Zalla in Washington DC, discussing developments in the US mission in Iraq, the upcoming parliamentary elections, and the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in the Kurdistan Region. 

Echoing other US officials, Tueller reiterated Washington's role in Iraq is to enable Iraqi security forces to fight the Islamic State (ISIS), saying that anyone criticizing the US presence is resisting the state. 

The US is also providing financial support to the UN mission in Iraq, and the electoral commission, in preparation for the October elections. 

He also refuted claims that the US is "quiet" on the Turkey-PKK conflict, and says Washington wants a strong Iraqi state to contribute to a more peaceful Middle East.

This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

Some of the militia groups are saying combat troops, advisor troops, this is just a change of names and the US is not really withdrawing. What do you say to that?

The security issue has dominated much of the discussion, but let me remind everybody that of course our presence there is at the request and invitation of the Iraqi government, they asked us to come in and lead an international coalition to help the Iraqi government deliver the decisive and enduring defeat of ISIS. We have accomplished much of that mission and we are at a stage now where we can assess what are the capabilities of the Iraqi forces, whether from the Peshmerga, the Iraqi security forces, or the counter terrorism forces and what are their needs. That’s the nature of the discussion. I would dismiss those who are criticizing this or anything because what they are really resisting, is they are resisting an Iraqi state, they are resisting a state that is able to provide security for the Iraqi people, they are resisting an Iraqi state that is able to provide jobs, predictability that is what their resistance is. There is no occupation by any foreign force, certainly not by the US. Our role there, operating within the Iraqi bases and the Iraqi operation centers, is to enable and make the Iraqi forces the most capable they can be.

This agreement between Iraq and the US, do you think this might lead to a better condition for the embassy to open up, and the US bases there that would face less attacks?

Well of course we do not have US bases in Iraq, we have some of our military that are on Iraqi bases whether in Ain al-Asad or Erbil or elsewhere so there are no US bases. We have an embassy, as we have embassies in any country in the world, and it is normal that a host government is responsible for protecting embassies and protecting forces that are in the country of the invitation. So the real question is for the Iraqi government, will they be able to stand up to those forces that as I said are resisting the Iraqi government. Will they be able to hold accountable those who are conducting these attacks, will they be able to deter them, will they be able to chase them down. I have seen some success in that regard and we hail that and we hope that the Iraqi government will continue to pursue very, very aggressively these forces that ultimately are threatening the interest of Iraq and the Iraqi people.

[The] UN believes it is difficult to conduct and run a fair election in Iraq, Sadr and some of the protest groups have already said that they do not want to participate in the elections. Do you think the current situation is fitting for an election, a fair election?

Let us recall what happened in late 2019. Young people came out and they were not just speaking for themselves, I believe they were speaking for Iraqis broadly, and saying we want our country back, we do not want a country that is dominated by political parties that govern on the basis of their own interests and not the interest of Iraq. So the demand of the early election was one that came from the Iraqi people, I believe Prime Minister Kadhimi, when he was sworn into office, promised that he would deliver on that, hold early elections, and of course he has called for that. Much of the preparation is well underway, I think the capabilities within the Iraqi higher electoral committee are very strong, they will be able to do this. The real question is there are groups that want to see these elections discredited, they want to see turn out suppressed, they want to see security conditions that would mar the outcome of the election. So really it is up to the Iraqi government to make sure that the preparations are adequate to meet all of those who would like to try to disrupt the election. We believe it is very important that we support the Iraqi government in that, we are doing that through financial support we are giving to UNAMI, financial support to the Iraqi higher electoral committee, and of course the type of support we can provide to the Iraqi military and security forces, so that they have the ability to provide for secure environment.

I want to ask about another issue in northern Iraq or Kurdistan Region, the Turkish attacks on the PKK militants in the mountains. We know that those attacks have caused a lot of displacement, a lot of suffering for the villagers in those areas, but do you think there is a role for United States who would look for a peaceful solution there? The US, is to be honest, a little quiet on the issue, why is that?

I do not believe that we are quiet, and I think that our interest is very, very clear and we articulate them regularly. For the United States, we want to see a secure, stable Middle East. We do not want to see a region that consistently is displacing populations, creating humanitarian suffering, having extremist groups that threaten state institutions. We want to see that vision realized from the Mediterranean to the Persian Gulf, and Iraq has a crucial part in that. A secure Iraq, means a secure region, so we want to see a strong, stable Iraqi state. The situation you described for example, where Turkey, because of its concern about the threat from PKK, enters into Iraq because PKK seeks safe haven within Iraq. The PKK is able to do that because there is not a strong Iraqi state that is able to prevent that sort of activity on its own soil. There are armed militias that operate against the interest of the Iraqi government again because of the weakness and compromised status of the Iraqi state. There is broad corruption and again that is because of the weakness of the Iraqi state where political parties or political interests are able to take over state institutions, ministries, and hijack state revenues into their own coffers to serve their own interest. All of that will be resolved as we see an Iraqi state strengthened, evolved, able to address all of those threats. So the US, we speak very clearly, our interests lie in a strong, sovereign, unified Iraqi state.

With that we hear consistently, US officials say that we also want a strong Kurdistan within that federal democratic Iraq. What can the US do to strengthen Kurdistan?

I think the Iraqi people, the Kurdish people and those of federal Iraq have determined that the best way to deal with Iraq’s very, very unique diversity is to have a federal state with an autonomous Kurdish region. In fact in some ways, while that still is an issue and there are ongoing issues that need to be resolved between Baghdad and Erbil, largely I would say that over the last 20 years we have seen the Kurdish region enjoy greater prosperity, greater security, They faced a tremendous threat from ISIS which came quite close to Erbil and other areas, and yet they resisted. The Peshmerga again with the support of the coalition and the US coming in was able to hold them back. So you see the product of that, greater security and stability in the Kurdish region has led to greater prosperity. We want to see that vision enacted throughout all of Iraq.

We heard that between the co-leaders of the PUK [Patriotic Union of Kurdistan], one of them, Lahur Talabany, was stripped off of all of his powers, How do you see the situation in Sulaimani?

We have welcomed that the PUK along with the KDP [Kurdistan Democratic Party] has entered into a unity government, we believe that was a very important step. The problem in Iraq of course is there are many outside actors and inside actors that are always looking for opportunities to try to exploit divisions in order to play out their own agenda. That weakens Iraq. So our message to all of our friends in Iraq, whether Kurd, Arab, Shiite, Sunni, is unify, work together because you have people inside the country who represent extremist visions for Iraq or you have people outside who are always going to look for every opportunity where they can find a division to get in and split it and exploit it. So work out these issues peacefully and productively, it is in your own interest to do so.