To pursue independence Kurds should have consensus among themselves, says Zalmay Khalilzad

"Independence of Kurdistan is an important and timely subject as the future of the whole region is on everyone's mind," said Zalmay Khalilzad, former American diplomat and ambassador to Iraq and Afghanistan at a conference on Kurdish independence at the American University of Kurdistan in Duhok.

Khalilzad said: "In the face of discussions about Iraq after ISIS, the threat of terrorism, the issue of governance and the US and international foreign policy, it is important for the Kurds to have a say, a perspective, a view of their own to contribute, to inform, to shape the discussions that are inevitably going to take place.

The Kurds have had a long yearning for independence, for a state of their own, but because of developments taking place far from here, or developments taking place close by or because of some internal issues the issue of independence has not achieved the state that the overwhelming majority of Iraqi Kurds aspire to, desire, hope and pray for.

But the question is: is this the time?

Is this the time for the Kurds to reach for that aspiration that has been there. And this is a big decision. It is not a simple decision, it is not a casual decision. I dare say it is a vital decision for the Kurds and the rest of Iraq and important for the world because what happens in this region affects the world.