KurdistanObserver.com

Pan-Kurdish Conference Debates Kurdistan Independence

Xebat Newspaper

Non 16, 2005

Text of report by Roshna Ail entitled "The participants in the Kurdistan independence conference: An independent Kurdish state is a legitimate demand and is not unrealistic", published by Iraqi Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) newspaper Khabat on 14 November; subheadings as published

We asked some participants in the Kurdistan independence conference which was organized in Arbil by the North American Kurdish National Congress "To what extent it is appropriate to demand independence for Kurdistan today and what is the impact of the conference towards this aim?"

Independence is not a sin

The chair of Kurdistan independence conference Dr Asa'd Khaylani said: "We decided to have the conference in Arbil to show that Kurdistan does have a capital city. The Kurdish National Congress [KNC] of North America works for an independent Kurdistan but at the same time it supports Kurdistan parties and both governments in Kurdistan and we ask them to unite as soon as possible to enable us obtain our rights. It is a right time to demand independence. As the president of Kurdistan region [Masud Barzani] said it is neither a sin nor a blasphemy to ask for Kurdistan's independence.

"In fact the referendum movement proved that the people of Kurdistan desire independence but the circumstances of Kurdistan require that we approach this aim through political means.

"Although independence is the desire of every Kurd but there are differentials such as reality and emotion. In this context, the chair of Kurdish community in California Mr Tahsin Atrushi said: Yes, we must differentiate between reality and emotion and between what we want and what we can achieve and how we demand it. Within the current political and regional circumstances independence is difficult to achieve because we know that our regional neighbours are against the aims of our nation and international politics today does not support independence. So I believe that independence is a legitimate ambition to have now but it will take a long time to achieve".

Two different obstacles

We presented the same question to the member of Iraqi National Assembly Dr Mundhir Al-Faddhl. He said: "The aims and wishes of Kurdish people now are embodied in the slogan of democratic federation within a federal, pluralistic and parliamentary Iraq. And this approach has been decided by Kurdistan parliament and is enshrined in Iraq's interim Administration Law. Also the principle of federation as a legitimate option for the Kurdish people has been established in the new Iraqi constitution which the people of Iraq voted for on 15 October 2005. This option also affirms the Kurdish people's right to self-determination because it is obvious that like any other people the Kurds wish to set up their own independent state and this is a legitimate demand in international law.

"The Kurdish people are an oppressed people who have offered thousands of martyrs to achieve their aims of independence and freedom. That is why, the aim of conference is to explore and debate the obstacles to achieving this aim and draw a road map and identify right methods and tools to achieve it. Of course there are both internal and external obstacles to achieve independence. Internally the issue of Kirkuk has not been sorted out yet, there are two administrations which have failed to unite, the Kurdish house has not been put in order.

"The external obstacles are international interests and the situation around Kurdistan because the regional powers do not respect human rights. In general they are dictatorial and totalitarian regimes. For example Syria has still not granted nationality rights to the Kurds because they are Kurds. But this chauvinistic mentality is outdated. That is why, I can say that the aim of Kurdistan's independence is an imminent one and it will be achieved. Today Kurdistan is in practical terms a state although it has not been formally and constitutionally recognized as such. But in any situation despite external and internal conditions, the demand of Kurdish people for an independent state is a legitimate demand and it must happen and whenever thus happens, we offer our congratulations to the Kurdish people".

Joint campaign for Kirkuk

The assistant of the governor of Kirkuk for compensation and settlement affairs Mr Hasib Qeredaghi said: "The preparation of this conference comes at a time when the permanent Iraqi constitution achieved great success and this constitution includes most of the demands of the people of Kurdistan. Many of these demands have been fulfilled in terms that they have been agreed upon but our struggle is to have them implemented. At this sensitive time when we will have new elections on 15 December 2005 we have to decide how to achieve this aim in a very delicate way because everyone now analyzes these issues to find a way for dealing with them especially the Kurdish question and the Kurdistani identity of Kirkuk and its administrative incorporation into the Kurdistan region and the normalization of the conditions of Kirkuk.

"Now Baghdad has a very bad role in all this and tries to create big obstacles to the implementation of Article 58. This entails that the Kurdish leadership review the way they work in Kirkuk so that they work as one voice and one spirit to pursue a big strategic effort to ensure material and moral support for the people of Kirkuk and other areas which are under the control of Baghdad. I hope that this conference will have a positive impact to make the political parties and authorities aware of their roles and responsibilities in relation to their activities in Kirkuk.

Completing stages

The Secretary of Kurdish Human Rights organization in North America Miss Parwin Qeredaqhi said: Now it is a good time to discuss Kurdistan's independence. The issue of [Iraqi] constitution is over and there are new elections. In the conference the role of the Kurds of America and Europe was discussed. What can we do to support the Kurds in other parts of Kurdistan such as Syria, Turkey, and Iran? How can we adapt the model of federalism in Iraq to other parts of Kurdistan? It is my view that it is a right time now to debate these issues.

KNC Board of Directors member Ms Thurayya Saraj-al-Din said: As KNC we work for independence. But we realize that we must complete some stages before reaching this aim and federation is one of these stages. I hope it will be a short one. In this conference and in the capital of Kurdistan we conducted all the papers and discussions in Kurdish. By this we achieved a great ambition we had to bring the Kurds from all parts of Kurdistan together in one conference. This in itself is a meaningful achievement.