KRG Cabinet | gov.krd | 21 NOV 2017

Erbil, Kurdistan Region, Iraq (cabinet.gov.krd) – In a press conference, Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani stressed the importance of the full implementation of the Iraqi Constitution as the key to stability of Iraq.

He said, “If Baghdad and the international community want a stable Iraq, Baghdad has to be serious in its commitment to the implementation of the Iraqi Constitution, of all its articles.”

Below is the transcript of Prime Minister Barzani’s press conference:

Good morning,

We visited Darbandikhan last week and we had meetings with local officials of Darbandikhan, Garmyan, and Halabja. We assessed the situation with the help of Deputy Prime Minister and other Ministers on how we could help those who were adversely affected by the earthquake. We asked the Ministry of Finance and Economy to allocate funds to the local administrations so they can deal with problems as soon as possible. In order to evaluate the situation more precisely, we asked some ministries to submit reports on losses caused by the earthquake. We will follow up on all necessary steps. We again extend our condolences to the victims of the earthquake, in our Region and also to those in the other side of the border, in Iran. We hope this would be the last disaster in our whole region. We thank all countries that responded with support. We are grateful to Turkey and Italy for their very timely response. We thank the European Union and all countries that supported us.

Baghdad and Kurdistan Region tension

Last week, I received a letter from the UN Secretary General in which he offered his support for talks between the Kurdistan Regional Government and the Federal Government of Iraq, based on the Iraqi Constitution, which is also our position. During a phone call with US Secretary of State, Mr. Tillerson, we confirmed again KRG’s willingness to resolve outstanding issues with Baghdad in accordance with the Iraqi Constitution. American interest in a strong and stable KRG is very important for us. We have always confirmed we are ready for dialogue with Baghdad whenever it is ready.

Financial crisis

In our Council of Ministers’ meeting today, we discussed again the reforms to our financial system, public employment, and, especially, transparency in the oil sector. You all know we have engaged Deloitte & Touche, one of the ‘Big Four’ financial auditing firms in the world, to work on transparency in Kurdistan’s oil sector. They have already started their work and will release their report in the near future. By publishing this report, we will affirm that our oil sector has been functioning in a transparent manner. We are ready to share the audit results with any side, either with Baghdad or at the international level.

We are ready to begin negotiations with Baghdad whenever they are ready. The KRG’s position is clear - we are ready to solve problems in accordance with the Federal Constitution.

Thank you very much.

Questions and answers:

Question regarding the Federal Court ruling - [exact question inaudible]

Prime Minister Barzani: Our stance is very clear and we were clear in the past too. Before and after the Referendum we have often repeated that if the Iraqi Constitution was properly implemented, we would not had problem with Baghdad. The Constitution is one package; all articles must be implemented as one package. In Iraq, there are often talks about implementing the Constitution, but unfortunately, the articles chosen to implement were those solely in Baghdad’s interests. If, in the past years, Iraq had been committed to the implementation of the Constitution, the Kurdistan Region would not have worked on other alternatives including the Referendum. What made the people of Kurdistan disappointed was that Iraq did not abide by the Constitution. In the beginning of the Constitution it is written that this Constitution is the guarantor of Iraq’s unity. It is very clear. That is why we say it again, if Baghdad and the international community want a stable Iraq, Baghdad has to be serious in its commitment to the implementation of the Iraqi Constitution, of all its articles one by one. We have a different interpretation about some of its articles. We need a third party to help us solve problems based on the Constitution. The question is this: Does Iraq and its leaders want stability in this country or not? If they want stability, then they should eagerly work to implement this Constitution as a whole, not just choosing some articles according to their wishes. The Constitution is one package from the preamble to the end. If we implement the Constitution, I think we will solve all our problems.

Question: Good morning. Before, [regarding a previous ruling] you welcomed the decision of the Iraqi federal court. Today the same court issued another decision, while no KRG representative attended the court. What is your view on today’s federal court decision on [considering the] Referendum [unconstitutional]?

Prime Minister Barzani: The decisions of the federal court could not be repealed. The decision of the federal court is the final decision, but they made it unilaterally without the presence of KRG representatives.

Question: The USA supported you and the Deputy Prime Minister of Kurdistan Regional Government by mentioning both of you in their statements. Is there any guarantee for the implementation of the Constitution? Did you ask the US for any guarantee that Baghdad will implement the Iraqi Constitution?

Prime Minister Barzani: In my meeting with Brett McGurk, and also in my phone call with the US Secretary of State, I stressed that we need support for interpretation of the Constitution. We asserted that we need a third party in the talks. The third party could be the United Nations or any other competent party to help. Yes, we talked about this issue with the US Secretary of State and with Brett McGurk, too. It is not about trust, but we need a third party help in the process of the interpretations of the Constitution.

Very little steps have been taken in the past years to implement the Constitution. In Iraq, some look at the Constitution as a menu to choose what they wish or like. No, the Constitution is a package and it needs to be implemented in its entirety. The opposite, if you implement one article and not the other, will create instability and problems will persist in the country. We hope that we solve all our problems within the framework of the Constitution. Yes, we talked on this issue with the Secretary of State.

Question: There is a proposal to review the KRG cabinet. How will it be?

Prime Minister Barzani: Really, still it is not clear to me what is the purpose of this. In principle, we are ready to talk about this idea, but I don’t know what they [some political parties] want when they talk about reviewing this cabinet. Do they want to change their ministers? They are all part of this current government. The second point is that, what can this transitional government do that the current government cannot? The third point, this current government is an interim government too. There is a limited timeline until the forthcoming election. From today, we start negotiating with the political parties. I and [Deputy Prime Minister] Kak Qubad [Talabani] will visit party leaders to start talks and then we will decide a date for the election. In this process, we need a government, and forming a new government needs much more time. As I said, we are ready for any talks, but this current government is an interim government until the election. The election will settle all the issues.

Question: Iraq and Iran had a deal about exporting Kirkuk oil through Iran. Is the KRG aware of this deal?

Prime Minister Barzani: We are not aware of this deal. No one has consulted us about this issue.

Question: Haval Abubakr is to take the post of Suleimaniya governor and why is he still waiting for the KRG to sign the order to start his duties? My second question, what is your view on the Suleimaniya provincial council directly dealing with Baghdad?

Prime Minister Barzani: To the contrary, the Suleimaniya provincial council decided not to deal directly with Baghdad. They issued a statement about this. About the Suleimaniya governor’s appointment, it has nothing to do with political issues, but it needs some legal steps and then we will take decision.

Question: Mr Prime Minister, could you tell us what would be the future situation of the civil servants’ salaries?

Prime Minister Barzani: Our priority now is to provide salaries to employees. We have done all what we have been able to do so far. I am happy that the draft bill about the Iraqi budget that went to the Iraqi Parliament has been returned to the cabinet for review and we hope they will take the opportunity to amend it, because it is unimaginably unfair to the people of the Kurdistan Region.  We hope that our agreed 17 percent share of the federal budget would be met, if they want. we can give them our employee biometric data to work on and send the salary amount accordingly.

Question: Mr. Prime Minister, rumour has it that Baghdad and Erbil officials held a number of secret meetings. What are the issues discussed in the meetings? Yesterday, the Iraqi President said that both sides are afraid of losing and that is why they avoid discussing the issues. Is that true?

Prime Minister Barzani: We haven’t held any secret meetings, but we did hold military meetings. The goal was to prevent recurrence of new armed confrontations. The Peshmerga forces willingly withdrew from some of the areas that were under their control. However, the Iraqi forces persisted to advance in some of the areas and that resulted in clashes between Peshmerga and Iraqi forces. We met with Iraqi leaders to prevent future clashes. We wanted to ease the tensions between both sides. Regarding what the Iraqi President said, I personally have not heard or read his remarks, but eventually, we have no choice but to resolve issues through peaceful negotiations. The disputes between Erbil and Baghdad should be settled through negotiations. Other than that, we do not have any other options. There is no military solution to the disputes between Erbil and Baghdad.

Question: Today, the Federal Court of Iraq decided to annul the referendum. Previously, when the Federal Court issued its interpretation to the article (1) of the Iraqi Constitution, you respected the decision. How about now? Do you accept their new decision, or do you think Iraq should first implement the Constitution?

Prime Minister Barzani: We are not talking about annulling or not annulling the referendum. [Previously], the Federal Court interpreted an article of the Iraqi Constitution and we respected that article. If Baghdad had implemented all the articles of the Constitution in the past, all that [events that have] followed would not had taken place. The rights of the people of the Kurdistan Region are established in the Iraqi Constitution and no law or article can ever change this fact. The most important thing is implementing the Constitution. If the Iraqi government implements the Constitution, there will not be any issues between Baghdad and the Kurdistan Region anymore.

Question: What would be the role of the Kurdistan Region in electing a governor for the Kirkuk province? Were there any meetings between KRG and Iran in the past few days? What would happen to Kurdistan’s relationship with Iran?

Prime Minister Barzani: We won’t have any role in that. The Provincial Council of Kirkuk will take care of that. Also, Iran is our neighbour. The Kurdistan Region shares a long border with Iran and we obviously want to have a good relationship with Iran and all of our neighbouring countries. We have said that many times, but I will say it again, the Kurdistan Region is a factor of stability in the region and it will continue to be.

Question: Don’t you have the impression that the Federal Court of Iraq is being used as a tool to put pressure on the Kurdistan Region? Also, it is said that Baghdad will export Kirkuk’s oil through Ceyhan. Have they discussed this issue with you? And, people in Kurdistan keep asking if there is any good news. Can you answer them, please!

Prime Minister Barzani: We have already responded to the decision made by the Federal Court of Iraq regarding the referendum. I reiterate that protecting the security of this country is important. Stability is very important, but it cannot be achieved without implementing the Constitution. This is not about who is strong and who is weak. This kind of mentality doesn’t work. We should sit down together and resolve the issues based on the Iraqi Constitution. Regarding Kirkuk oil exports, no decisions have been made yet.

And, what did you mean by ‘’good news’’?

Reporter: Will things get better?

Prime Minister Barzani: Of course, they will. Now we are going through a particularly difficult period, but there is no doubt that we will overcome this together. If we stand united, we can get through it. But, if each party attempts to implement its own agenda, and looks for other parties’ flaws just for political gain, we won’t be able to overcome the challenges we face. We should not take advantage of certain opportunities to undermine each other. This is wrong. if we agree on and abide by certain principles we can overcome the challenges together. I am sure we will overcome them. I know things are difficult now, but this is a chance for all of us to re-evaluate ourselves, find out where what went wrong, and how can we resolve the problems. There is always a positive side of every situation. Kurdistan will always exist and sooner or later, the people of Kurdistan will achieve their rights.

Question: I want to ask about Kurdistan’s relationship with Turkey. After the earthquake, Turkey was the first country to send humanitarian assistance to the victims of the quake. How is the relationship between the Kurdistan Region and Turkey now? Do you have any plans to visit Turkey?

Prime Minister Barzani: As you just said, Turkey was the first country to send assistance to the Kurdistan Region. The office of the Turkish president contacted us right after the earthquake. Turkey has helped the people of Kurdistan many times, and this is not their first time they are helping us during hardships. They sent help to the people in Darbandikhan and Halabja after the earthquake and, honestly, this is what I expected them to do. As soon as we get an opportunity, we will visit Turkey.

Question: Mr. Prime Minister, as we all know, there are still more than 1.2 million refugees and IDPs in the Kurdistan Region. Some reports say there are about 300,000 people displaced from Kirkuk [and other disputed areas], while the earthquake caused heavy damages to the Region. To what extent Iraq’s ban on international flights has affected international humanitarian relief operations to help these people?

Prime Minister Barzani: Closing the airports was neither constitutional nor legal. The decision to close Kurdistan’s airports is a violation of the rights of the people to travel freely, and of course this has created difficulties for international organizations to send humanitarian aid to the refugees and IDPs, especially now that we are getting closer to winter. If the Iraqi Government wants to know what we do in our airports, they can come and check everything for themselves. We don’t mind that at all. We released a statement regarding the refugee and IDP issues. According to a study by the KRG and the World Bank, the influx of IDPs and refugees since 2014 has increased Kurdistan Region’s population by close to 30 percent, and therefore KRG needs to spend 1.4 billion USD to support refugees and IDPs annually. Closing the airports had a negative impact on that. In addition, there are people who need to receive medical treatment aboard and closing the airports has made it difficult.

Question: Could you tell us your view on Iraq’s demands to postpone the Iraqi parliamentary elections?

Prime Minister Barzani: I think the election should be held on time. We support holding the Iraqi parliamentary elections on its date. Regarding the Kurdistan Region, as I said before, after meetings with political parties we will choose a date for holding the Kurdistan Region’s elections.