Dindar Zebari on Kurdistan Region’s UN and Multilateral Relations

Dindar Zebari, assistant head of Kurdistan's Department of Foreign Relations, says that the central government should, according to the federal constitution, recognize representatives of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) as official diplomats. Zebari says that the Canadian province of Quebec, whose representatives work as Canadian diplomats around the world but also represent Quebec, can be a model for how Baghdad and Erbil should align their relations with the UN and foreign countries. The KRG established its own Department of Foreign Relations in 2009, to systemize the region’s diplomatic relations abroad and embrace the many foreign consulates that have flocked to the autonomous region over the past decade. Here is the Rudaw interview.

Rudaw: Has the Iraqi government ever tried to curtail Kurdistan’s UN and other multilateral relations, forcing Erbil to reach the world through Baghdad?

Dindar Zebari: The KRG was in place before the removal of the Baath regime in 2003. Since the 1992 elections, the KRG has conducted relations with the international community on the basis of a de-facto administration. In the new Iraq and its constitution of 2005, the KRG was officially recognized and given internal sovereignty. The KRG was given by law of the country a right of participation in Iraq’s foreign office and foreign affairs. If you read the constitution it indicates clearly that the KRG has a right to have representations. That’s why here in the Kurdistan Region you see day-by-day the opening of new consulates and international organizations.

 

However, from years of my personal experience with Baghdad, we are still not at the stage of formal inclusion, or formal partnership when it comes to sharing foreign policies. What we seek is that KRG representatives abroad must be part of the Iraqi diplomacy as it is permitted by the constitution. This is what Quebec in Canada has. When it comes to organizations like UNESCO and others -- again because we have a different culture, nation and language -- these are all pillars for this recognition.

In practice however, we do still exercise our right of participation, the right of representation. Here we have international organizations and they invited us. They have to deal with this government; there is no way around it. As the KRG, we have complete internal sovereignty. What I mean by that is we’re responsible for the well being of the people of this Region. So we’re responsible for all different responsibilities as a government in place. We’re the host authority. No consulate general in Erbil, no UN office in Erbil, no international organizations in Erbil, can act, deliver or conduct their practice without the full partnership of the KRG.

Rudaw:  So you want Kurdish officials to be recognized as Iraqi diplomats, rather than KRG diplomats?

Dindar Zebari: As Iraqi diplomats, but as KRG representatives. This is what the federal constitution is supposed to deliver. For instance, if you look at Quebec, it’s representative at UNESCO, he’s a representative of the government of Quebec, but he’s officially recognized as a Canadian diplomat. It is only the last part that I believe is significant. The department of foreign relations here must be fully participating in the representation of Iraq when it comes to foreign interaction, because without the KRG the representation of Iraq is not complete.

 

Rudaw: Iraq has sometimes complained that KRG missions abroad act as representatives of an independent state. What do you say to this?

Dindar Zebari: I fully agree with Iraqi concerns, but in what way do I agree? The Iraqi foreign ministry must officially recognize KRG's representatives abroad. That will bring the unity of Iraq and protect and secure the sovereignty of Iraq, and internationally we will look like a united Iraq, because federalism is all about internal diversity but external unity. If that is changed, then the problem will be resolved. What do we represent outside of Iraq? We don’t represent anything other than Iraqi foreign affairs. What we represent goes in line with the Iraqi Foreign Ministry’s policies. So we have the same policy as Iraq, but we implement that policy sometimes in better practice, because of stability and security and economic boom. So, possibly we are far ahead in some of the areas. And our concerns as the KRG are better understood internationally because we are on the path to self-sufficiency.

Rudaw: A number of countries have opened consulates in Erbil, among them the US, UK and France. What has been their incentive? Is it economic interests; is it the geopolitical significance of the region?

Dindar Zebari: It might be both, or it might be even more than that. Iraq is an important geopolitical entity in the Middle East. It’s also important because it’s an eastern gate from the Arab world to Europe. It’s also important because it is a southern gate for Europe to the Gulf and also to the Middle East. It’s also important because it’s an area where most of the trade goes on.

Secondly, it’s the future of the Middle East. The Kurdish nation is an important figure, if I may call it, when it comes to democracy and change. In the four countries, Syria, Turkey, Iran and Iraq where the Kurds live now, the Kurds see that the democratic movement, and reconciliation and the future of the Middle East is very much dependent on the co-existence of Kurds with the countries they live in, peacefully.

 

Also the participation of the Kurdish nation in the politics of the Middle East does matter. The Kurds in the Kurdistan Region have been successful. They have self-rule, stability, and security; and have become a place of investment, not only for Europeans, but for the neighbors, the Gulf and the Middle East. Oil exports from the Kurdistan Region will also be another significant role to play for the KRG in the years to come. So I call it economic, politics, geopolitical, as well as the future of Iraq. The KRG is very much a guarantor of the security, as well as the unity of Iraq. 

Rudaw:  Why do you think Baghdad has been so hesitant to come up with an agreement with the KRG?

Dindar Zebari:  It goes back to many possibilities. It’s not for me to say what exactly the political decisions and guidelines are, but let me put it this way: the Iraqi government has failed to successfully solve many outstanding issues and this might be one of them.

Rudaw: Do you or your colleagues ever wish to one day become ambassadors and diplomats of an independent Kurdish state?

Dindar Zebari: If you ask me as a Kurd, as a Kurdish individual, of course, I would like to see Kurdistan as a state. But again, if you look at the pillars of statehood and are realistic about it, the three pillars of statehood that are: independence nation, different language and self-governance that proves it’s self-sufficient. The KRG has proved this. We have these three pillars available. The rest of it is external recognition, so we are just at the stage of recognition. But does recognition, or a few countries recognizing the Kurdish state lead to stability? I believe what the KRG leadership believes in is prosperity for the Region, reconstruction and rebuilding, as well as coexistence with the neighbors and with Iraq that is acceptable and well supported. So I think we are very much pragmatic with our steps and we believe the success of the KRG will only be achieved, and self-independence will only be achieved, when an atmosphere of coexistence in the Middle East, in the neighboring countries, and in Iraq, provides that room.