“The delegation will consist of representatives from the five parties involved in the government cabinet, together with Turkmen, Chaldean, and Assyrian delegates,” Saadi Pire, a politburo member of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, revealed to Rudaw.
The delegation is expected to visit Baghdad in the near future. The plan came out of a meeting between the PUK and the ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) last week.
The spokesperson of the KDP said that the delegation will discuss the question of independence with Iraqi political parties.
“Talks have to be held on administrating the future of this country. We failed to live together, failed under federalism and autonomy,” said Mahmood Mohammed. “What will our coexistence look like now?”
According to Mohammed, the proposal which will be put forward for discussion “is to become two different governments next to each other and be good neighbors.”
President of the Kurdistan Region Masoud Barzani recently said that Kurds will not drop the question of independence and this issue has been discussed several times with Baghdad.
“I discussed this subject with Baghdad on my visit to there. Reaching an understanding with Baghdad on this will pave the way to many other countries to recognize us. That is why we will continue until we exhaust the path of dialogue with Baghdad to reach a positive result, so we don’t have to take other steps. But we will certainly take other steps if we lose hope in this [dialogue with Baghdad],” Barzani said in a wide ranging interview this week in Davos, Switzerland.
Barzani assured that “We will not give up on this process. We can be good neighbors with the future Iraq. We were, however, unable to be good partners. This is the reality and those who do not recognize this, do not want to see the truth.”
And in an interview with Washington Post, also from Davos, Barzani once again reiterated that a Kurdish state “is neither a rumor nor a dream. It is a reality that will come true. We will do everything in order to accomplish this objective, but peacefully and without violence."
