No signs yet Baghdad willing to enter into talks with Erbil: official

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Baghdad has not yet indicated it is willing to enter negotiations with the Kurdistan Region and may not do so any time soon, a senior Kurdish official with knowledge of diplomatic traffic to and from the Kurdistan Region said on Friday.

 

Fuad Hussein, chief of staff to the Kurdistan Region presidency, said that the Region faces various and divided rulers in the Iraqi government, something that adds to the complexity of any talks between Erbil and Baghdad following the September vote for independence and the subsequent military standoff.

 

“There is no single Baghdad,” Hussein told the Voice of America.

 

He said Kurdish parties have to work out their own differences and prepare for negotiations with the Iraqi government. 

 

Erbil has offered to freeze the outcome of the referendum in exchange for talks with Baghdad in light of the Iraqi constitution and has stated that it respects a ruling from the Iraqi Federal Court that concluded Iraq must remain united.

 

Baghdad has so far refused to publicly commit to such talks. The Saudi-owned Sharq Awsat, however, reported on Thursday that the talks have begun “in secret.” 

 

The newspaper also cited an anonymous Iraqi source close to the Iraqi government that Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi wants to see Kurdistan’s former President Masoud Barzani announce that he, too, commits to the Iraqi court ruling.

 

On the talks, It cited a Shiite MP from the ruling State of Law Coalition saying that Abadi has tasked a committee headed by a senior politician to start preliminary negotiations.

 

Renas Jano, a Kurdish MP, told Rudaw on Friday that the issue is not about “secrecy,” but that negotiation conducted away from the media will have better results.

 

He complained that Iraq raises its demands day after day. 

 

Regarding the visit by the US Presidential Envoy to the war against ISIS Brett McGurk, who visited Kurdistan this week and met with Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani and other officials, Fuad Hussein said he does not know whether the American tried to “pressure” Baghdad into accepting Erbil’s offer for talks.

 

He said that McGurk told the Kurdish leadership that the United States supports the Kurdistan Region and urges talks between the two sides within the framework of the Iraqi constitution. He said he carried a similar message to Abadi when the two met on Wednesday.

 

He added that international actors, like the United Nations, have also pushed for talks. 

 

Baghdad, he said, is the hub for foreign influence from different sides and it is “Baghdad that finally takes decisions.”

 

However, he said, Baghdad is internally divided and is not sending the right messages to Erbil.

 

“There is no one single Baghdad. There are many rulers in Baghdad. But what we hear from the Iraqi government, and the office of the Iraqi prime minister, they say they want to deal with the [Kurdistan] Region within the framework of the [Iraqi] constitution. But as of yet, the indications coming out of Baghdad does not indicate that they are prepared to enter negotiations at the current time.”

 

He said it may take some time before Baghdad decides to take the path of dialogue.

 

Letting their problems linger “is not good” for either side, Hussein warned, as this may further “complicate” their relations.

 

He said Iraq is heading towards general elections in May 2018 and this may hinder talks as Iraqi parties feel they must show voters they have taken a strong stance against Erbil.

 

He warned though that Iraq should not think the Kurds are “weaker” and Baghdad is in a better situation. Iraq too has its own problems, he said.

 

He finally suggested that the Kurdish faction in the Iraqi parliament may take part in the upcoming Iraqi elections and enter into a “coalition” with other Iraqi parties and alliances.