Barzani: Iraqi Kurds keeping their options open

On July 8, before the publication of this interview, the president of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region Massoud Barzani issued an open letter to the Iraqi people. In the letter, he reviewed a series of crises between the Kurdistan Region and Baghdad, which brought the option of self-determination to the forefront. Barzani allocated large parts of his letter to confirm that a unified Iraq requires joint action, a new administration and a new vision on how to manage the country in the future.

In an interview with Al-Monitor, President Barzani confirmed this concept. He pointed out that the crisis with Baghdad is a crisis of concepts, and stressed that the decision to declare independence, if adopted by the Kurdish people, will be based on an autonomous will. However, he indicated that freedom is not without a cost. Barzani said that following the last security collapse in Iraq, Kurdish politics are based on two courses of action. The first is working with the national forces to rebuild Iraq, and the second is exercising the right of self-determination if efforts to save Iraq fail.

He said the crisis in Iraq is first and foremost a political crisis and that the failure to bring about sweeping reforms would lead to a failure in fighting against terrorism. Barzani also stated that Sunnis in Iraq will succeed in ousting terrorists from their cities if their demands are achieved. On a different note, he stressed that Turkey understands the course of things in Kirkuk today.

Al-Monitor:  On July 1, the Kurdish and the Sunni parties withdrew from the first parliamentary session that was held to form a new government. You clearly said you will not work with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Will you be working with other members of the State of Law Coalition, and what are your conditions and expectations for participation in the next government?