Gagrule.net

Gagrule.net News, Views, Interviews worldwide

Kurdish People rise up against the government in Barzani Kurdistan

By

People are taking to the streets in Southern Kurdistan and calling on the government to resign. KDP forces are opening fire on protesters.

Everywhere has turned into a scene of protest in Southern Kurdistan as people have taken to the streets in masses in Sulaymaniyah, Halabja, Seyidsadiq, Ranya, Qeladiz, Sengeser, Derbendîxan, Kelar, Teqteq and Chamchamal. People are calling on the government to resign due to ongoing problems such as non-provision of service to the people, non-payment of salaries and corruption.

HEWLÊR

Asayish forces of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) attacked the demonstrators with rifle butts and sticks in Hewlêr’s Rewandiz district. Several people were detained or injured as a result of the crackdown.

SULAYMANIYAH

Demonstrators set the KDP office on fire in the town of Piremegrun in Sulaymaniyah’s Dukan district. Calling for the government’s resignation, people were attacked by the attacks of asayish (public security) forces in several areas. Thousands chant slogans in English, Kurdish and Arabic calling for “an end to 26-year reign”.

 

Large numbers of teachers, workers and citizens have gathered in Sera, Sulaymaniyah and marched to the KDP office on Salım Avenue in protest at the practices of the government.

Asayish forces blocked the demonstrators on Mewlewi Avenue and attacked them with tear gas and opened fire into the air in an effort to disperse the mass.

People gathered in front of the KDP office are calling on the KRG to resign, highlighting electricity, water and salary issues.

KDP OFFICES STONED

In Sulaymaniyah’s Seyiqsadiq district, demonstrations continue since early morning hours. Protestors stoned the KDP offices in the district, after which party members left offices and security units opened fire on the people, forming a line of guard around offices. Some citizens have been injured during the ensuing turmoil.

“OUR PROTESTS WILL CONTINUE”

In Sulaymaniyah’s Chamchamal district, people state that their protests against the government will continue until their demands are met. District Governor Remk Remezan called for common sense against acts of violence.

GERMIYAN

In Germiyan’s Kelar district, demonstrators led by teachers and public servants gathered at Leyla Qasim Park, stressing that the government is no more legitimate.

Arî Ezedîn said the following on behalf of the teachers; “As all segments of the society, we do no more accept these conditions Southern Kurdistan is under. This situation cannot be defended anymore, for which reason we decided to stage mass protests. We are here to end this reign which has no legitimacy left. We will defend the power of the people. People must make their decisions themselves.”

CRACKDOWN ON PEOPLE

As demonstrations continue, security forces are reportedly opening fire on protestors. Some people were reportedly injured as a result of KDP asayish’s attack in Rewandiz.

Iraqi Kurdistan’s Barzani will hand over presidential powers on November 1: official

By

SULAIMANI, Iraq’s Kurdistan region,— Massoud Barzani, considered the illegitimate president of Iraqi Kurdistan, will not extend his presidential term beyond Nov. 1, a Kurdish government official said on Saturday.

His decision came just weeks after a referendum on Kurdish independence backfired and triggered a crisis for Iraq’s Kurds who had been enjoying a period of unprecedented autonomy.

A plan to divide up the president’s powers was outlined in a letter Barzani sent to the Kurdish parliament on Saturday, the official told Reuters. The plan asks parliament to distribute the president’s powers among the government, parliament and judiciary.

Barzani’s current term was set to expire in four days, the same date that presidential and parliamentary elections were due to be held. However, those elections were delayed indefinitely last week, amidst an escalating regional crisis.

Critics say the Sept. 25 independence referendum, orchestrated and championed by the 71-year-old Barzani, has left a bleak outlook for Iraq’s Kurds.

Less than four weeks after Kurds in the region voted overwhelmingly to break away from Iraq, the central government launched a military offensive to wrest back the oil-rich city of Kirkuk, which the Kurds regard as both their spiritual homeland, and a key source of revenue for their would-be independent state. It was one of several retaliatory measures taken by Baghdad, which vehemently opposed the referendum.

In a matter of days the Iraqi government has transformed the balance of power in the north of the country, exerting tremendous pressure on Barzani to step aside and wrecking decades-old dreams of Kurdish independence. Iraqi forces have continued to advance on all Kurdish-held territory outside the autonomous region’s borders.

Iraq’s prime minister demanded on Thursday that Kurds declare their independence referendum void, rejecting the Kurdish autonomous region’s offer to suspend its independence push to resolve a crisis through talks.

Earlier this year, Barzani said he did not intend to stand in the November elections. However, prior to the referendum, few expected he would stick to his promise.

Massoud Barzani has led Kurdistan region as president from 2005 for two executive terms and his last term was extended in 2013 by ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party KDP and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) for two more years on the condition that he can no longer run as president.

Barzani’s term as president of Kurdistan expired on August 20, 2015 but refused to step down and remains unofficially in office.

According to the law, Barzani cannot run for presidency anymore and his term cannot be extended. But the KDP insists that Massoud Barzani should remain president of the region.

Political risk analyst Kirk Sowell told Reuters on August 4, 2015 “If it were a stable democratic system, they would just vote him out of office. But it’s not,”

Barzani has closed the Kurdish parliament in October 2015 after his term expired and his KDP prevented Kurdistan parliament speaker, Yusuf Mohammed Sadiq, from Gorran Movement, from entering Erbil and Kurdistan PM Nechirvan Barzani has removed four members of his cabinet from the Change Movement and replaced them with KDP politicians.

Barzani said in March 2016 I will not leave power until Kurdistan get statehood. “The day we have an independent Kurdistan, I will cease to be the president of that Kurdistan”.

On October 24, 2017 Parliament of Kurdistan region, boycotted by the 2nd biggest Gorran Movement, has delayed presidential and parliamentary elections for 8 months amid tensions with the central government in Baghdad over disputed territories.

Iraqi Kurdistan’s main opposition Gorran party called on October 23, 2017 Massoud Barzani to resign after Baghdad seized swathes of disputed territory from Kurdish forces in response to an independence vote.

Kurdistan considered as the most corrupted part of Iraq. According to Kurdish lawmakers billions of dollars are missing from Iraqi Kurdistan’s oil revenues.

Barzani has been accused by critics of amassing huge wealth for his family instead of serving the population. Barzani’s son is the Kurdistan region’s intelligence chief and his nephew Nechirvan Barzani is the prime minister.

A Kurdish lawmaker said in March 2017 the amount of $1.266 billion from oil exports and Iraqi Kurdistan’s revenue has gone missing over the last three months.

Also the Talabani family including Jalal Talabani’s wife, Hero Ibrahim and her sons Bafel (Pavel) and Qubad and their relatives alongside other PUK leaders accused by critics of amassing huge wealth from oil business.

Kurdistan Barzani offer to suspend independence drive, seek talks with Baghdad “Video”

By

Gagrulenet illustration

Statement from the Kurdistan Regional Government

As Iraq and Kurdistan are faced with grave and dangerous circumstances, we are all obliged to act responsibly in order to prevent further violence and clashes between Iraqi and Peshmerga forces.

Attacks and confrontations between Iraqi and Peshmerga forces that started on October 16, 2017, especially today’s clashes, have caused damage to both sides and could lead to continuous bloodshed, inflicting pain and social unrest among different components of Iraqi society.

Certainly, continued fighting does not lead any side to victory, but it will drive the country towards disarray and chaos, affecting all aspects of life.
Therefore, in order to fulfill our responsibilities and obligations towards the people of Kurdistan and Iraq, we propose the following to the Iraqi Government and the Iraqi and world public opinion:

1. An immediate ceasefire and halt to all military operations in the Kurdistan Region.
2. Freeze the results of the referendum conducted in Iraqi Kurdistan.
3. Start an open dialogue between the Kurdistan Regional Government and Iraqi Federal Government on the basis of the Constitution.

Watch GagruleLive take on Barzani referendum gamble fails as Iraqi forces retake Kirkuk Video

By

Photo by www.gagrule.net

Despite Kurdish Peshmerga resistance Iraqi security troops and predominantly Shiite Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) have taken back the key security outposts, including Kirkuk airport and Baba gargar oil field, occupied by the Kurds in 2014.

Kurdish sources report uninterrupted pumping of oil, but fears of oil supply interruption from the second largest OPEC producer have already affected the prices which have registered a slight rise on global markets.

However unpleasant the current situation is for the Kurdish KRG leadership, the timing of the referendum was clearly wrong, and it lacked any substantial foreign support which would have given its cause some legitimacy and chance of success.

While the global powers have many important differences when it comes to the Iraqi and Syrian conflict, there is one issue in Iraq where nearly all have concurring opinions – country’s territorial integrity and the priority of fighting terrorism.

Kurdish president Barzani’s decision to go ahead with the referendum at such an inopportune time has backfired today. Beside failing to gain international support for the Kurdish cause it has created further divisions within Iraqi Kurds. The coming Iraqi elections will probably cost Barzani his power position for good, and could – under the right outcome – fortify Abadi’s position in next year’s elections and help form the stable new Iraqi government in the immediate post-ISIS era – a great and crucial achievement from the regional stability perspective.

Kurdistan: Barzani Referendum Gamble Fail and led to Erdogan marriage of convenience with Iraq

By

By Wally Sarkeesian,

Another Erdogan successful False-Flag Operation, Erdogan betting on the new marriage of convenience with Iraq will get him $100 Billion Mosul Reconstruction Project.

Fall of Kirkuk shows referendum leading to less, not more authority for Kurds in Iraq.

Some Kurd began by asking Barzani resignation.

Monday’s fall of Kirkuk made plain the one tangible result of the independence referendum Iraqi Kurdish authorities organized last month against international advice: It endangered the very survival of existing Kurdish autonomy.

The Iraqi federal government’s lightning military operation to seize the Kurdish-held city and the surrounding oil fields was the latest in a series of steps Baghdad has taken to chip away at Kurdistan’s freedoms in the aftermath of the Sept. 25 referendum.

 

Should Barzani resign?

 

KDP media silent on Erdoğan’s insults against Barzani

By

After the independence referendum in Southern Kurdistan, Turkish president Erdogan continues to insult Barzani and Kurdish people.

Speaking at the graduation ceremony of the Police Academy, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan addressed Barzani in degrading manner. “Just sit back. You’ve got money, oil, so stay where you are! (He says that) it would be an independent state (!). This adventure will end in disappointment” he said.

BARZANI THREW HIMSELF INTO FIRE

Stating that KDP’s leader threw himself into fire Erdoğan said “We are disappointed by the latest developments in northern Iraq, but that’s not something we can’t overcome.”

“Who will recognize your independence? Just sit back. You’ve got money, oil, so stay where you are! He must have been enticed to take this step. Masoud Barzani has thrown himself into fire” Erdoğan said in a degrading manner.

“You have a 350 km-long border with us. Did you even consult with us or Iran in this regard? We will keep warning till the end. We will stop this mischief in Iraq, just as we did not allow the Syria problem to affect our country,” he added.

LAWRENCE PARANOIA

Comparing the Kurdistan Regional Government’s bid for independence to the Arab revolt against the Ottoman Empire during the First World War, Erdoğan said “New Lawrence cases will not be successful this time.”

He added that if Iraqi Kurds serve “other actors’ interests in the region,” they will not be able to ask for help from Turkey.

KDP MEDIA REMAINS SILENT

While Erdoğan continues to insult Kurdish people and Barzani, the media of KDP remains silent. There is no single article about Erdoğan’s statements on newspapers or TV channels. On the contrary some media institutions are still publishing reports claiming that the AKP is a friend of Kurdish people.

Barzani releases statement on independence referendum

By

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (K24) – Kurdistan Region President Masoud Barzani released a statement regarding the independence referendum and the right to self-determination.

In the statement, Barzani said, “Self-determination is a natural right that cannot be denied.”

“In the past few days a number of local politicians and officials from regional countries made false and unfair statements about the rights of Kurdish people,” he continued.

The President also said that the existence of a Kurdish state in the Middle East is a reality, that can determine its rights.

“Self-determination is a natural right granted by God; this right should not be denied or prevented under any pretext or justification,” Barzani said.

“If the people of Kurdistan wait for others to grant them the right to independence, it will never be achieved,” he stated.

Referring to Sykes-Picot Agreement, Barzani said that dividing the Middle East without considering the original people of the region was a failed policy. “The rights of Kurdish people should not be sacrificed for political interests,” he added.

The President also said that the time has come and the opportunity is ideal for the people of Kurdistan to determine their future through a referendum.

“The referendum will be held through peaceful dialogue and understanding,” Barzani stated.

Additionally, he mentioned that the Kurdistan Region has never been a threat to anyone and neither will independence.

Barzani concluded that the referendum does not mean an immediate declaration of independence, rather for the people of Kurdistan to determine their will. Likewise, he said that it is an opportunity for the political leadership in Kurdistan to implement people’s will.

Barzani says Turkmens of Tal Afar loyal to Islamic State

By

BarzaniBaghdad (IraqiNews.com) Kurdistan Region’s President Masud Barzani has said that most of Sunni Turkmen citizens in Nineveh’s Tal Afar are loyal to the self-proclaimed Islamic State.

Barzani’s remarks on Wednesday to Saudi newspaper AlHayat come as the Iraqi Cabinet and the military command prepare for an invasion of the outstanding Islamic State stronghold town which the group has held since 2014.

“Those who remained in Tal Afar are Sunni Turkmen, and a majority of them cooperated with Daesh (IS),” Barzani told the newspaper. He, however, said he hopes the town would be liberated with the least losses possible among civilians

Asked about the participation of Shia-led, pro-government paramilitary troops- Popular Mobilization- in the Tal Afar battle, Barzani said his government had a conviction from the beginning that the operation should be  exclusively carried out by the government forces.

“There had been fears of actions of revenge against innocent children and women that could complicate things further,” Barzani said. “Tal Afar is located outside the region (Kurdistan) and we believe it is necessary that the Iraqi army takes on the liberation of that region.”

Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi had recently said that Tal Afar was the next target of operations against IS with the participation of the mobilization forces. The mobilization forces’ engagement in the anticipated campaign had been a point of controversy, with opponents, including regional Sunni powers like Turkey and Saudi Arabia, saying the step could have sectarian complications.

Mobilization forces, formed in 2014 as per a decision by Iraq’s Shia clergy to combat IS, have regularly faced accusations of committing human rights violations at areas recaptured from IS. Abadi has regularly defended the troops.

Erdogan says Turkish strikes on KURD PKK in Iraq Sinjar coordinated with Massoud Barzani

By

ANKARA,— Turkish President  Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that airstrikes against Kurdish PKK-affiliated militants in Sinjar was coordinated with Iraqi Kurdistan Democratic party KDP leader Massoud Barzani, Reuters reported.

Turkey will not let northern Iraq’s Sinjar region become a base for Kurdish PKK militants and will continue military operations there and in Syrian Kurdistan (northern Syria) “until the last terrorist is eliminated,” Erdogan told Reuters on Tuesday.

“We are obliged to take measures. We must take steps. We shared this with the U.S. and Russia and we are sharing it with Iraq as well,” Erdogan said in an interview in the presidential palace in Ankara.

“It is an operation that Massoud Barzani has been informed about.”

Turkish planes bombed Kurdish fighters in Iraq’s Sinjar and in Syrian Kurdistan on Tuesday, in a widening campaign against groups linked to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

Erdogan said he regretted the death of several members of the Iraqi Kurdish peshmerga forces, also deployed in Sinjar, during the Turkish operation and made clear that Turkey’s action was “absolutely not an operation against the peshmerga”.

Turkish warplanes also bombarded the People’s Protection Units (YPG) in northeastern Syria. The spokesman for the YPG said that 20 YPG members had been killed as a result of Turkish airstrikes in the Mount Karacok area of northeastern Syria.

In total Turkish warplanes hit 39 suspected positions of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in a one-hour aerial bombardment on the mountains of Sinjar and Karacok.

Tensions between the Peshmerga force of the KDP party and the Shingal Protections Units (YBS), an armed group affiliated with the PKK based in the Yazidi region of Shingal (Sinjar), sharply escalated earlier in March when the two sides entered an armed confrontation.

Clashes break out in the district of Sinune in Sinjar on March 3 after Turkey-backed Barzani Roj Peshmerga were deployed to the area that is controlled by the YBS.

The PKK took up arms in 1984 against the Turkish state, which still denies the constitutional existence of Kurds, to push for greater autonomy for the Kurdish minority who make up around 22.5 million of the country’s 79-million population. Nearly 40,000 people have been killed in the resulting conflict since then.

A large Kurdish community in Turkey and worldwide openly sympathise with PKK rebels and Abdullah Ocalan, who founded the PKK group in 1974, and has a high symbolic value for most Kurds in Turkey and worldwide according to observers.

Iraqi Kurdistan: Barzani’s KDP supports ‘Yes’ vote in Turkey Erdogan referendum

By

Barzani, ErdoganANKARA,— Iraq’s Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) led by Massoud Barzani, which has good ties with the ruling party in Turkey, is of the view that a yes-vote in Turkey’s referendum may re-open the door for the peace process between the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the Turkish state, the party’s representative to Ankara told Rudaw.

Commenting Sunday’s referendum on constitutional reforms that will replace Turkey’s parliamentary system with an executive presidency, Omar Mirani said that Kurds in Turkey should study and compare the current constitution with the amended one to see which one has “benefits” for millions of Kurds in Turkey.

“Regarding us, we as Kurds should look at what are the benefits in the previous constitution and what are the benefits in the current constitution. And based on that we should act,” Mirani told Rudaw. “But if we say no randomly, why should we, for no reason, turn ourselves into the enemy of a government or a state, without even getting any benefits?” Mirani argued, adding that Kurds should find “a reason” to vote either way.

The pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), strongly supported in the southeast but cast by Turkish President Recep Erdogan as an extension of the PKK, opposes the constitutional reform but its ability to campaign has been devastated by a crackdown which has led to the jailing of its leaders, a dozen of its MPs and thousands of its members on charges of PKK links. The state has taken over municipalities which the HDP had hitherto run. The HDP denies direct links to the PKK.

Asked whether there is still a possibility for a return to the peace process which ended in mid-2015 when armed conflict resumed between the PKK and Turkey, Mirani said that that depends on which way the Turkish people vote in the referendum.

“One should never be disappointed, or close all doors. Everything is possible,” he said. “In my view, ‘No’ does not have any benefits that [may make] Turkey to open the doors again. Turkey may become even more complicated. But ‘Yes’ has another possibility, another chance that the doors may open again for negotiation, for peace. And even some parties… can become mediators.”

President Masoud Barzani, who leads the KDP and enjoys good relations with Turkish President Recep Erdogan, has said time and again that he is ready to help with the peace process should both sides decide to go back to the negotiating table.

Asked whether the KDP has been officially working for a renewed peace process, Mirani said no, but added that they are meeting all the time with “our HDP brothers”, the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party, the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), and the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP).

Whichever way the Turkish nation votes, Mirani said they wish that “it ends well.”

Erdogan says Turkey needs a strong presidency to avoid the fragile coalition governments of the past. His critics cite the arrest, dismissal or suspension of more than 100,000 teachers (including 11,500 Kurdish teachers), civil servants, soldiers, judges and journalists since a failed coup last July as evidence of his authoritarian instincts.

Since July 2015, Turkey initiated a controversial military campaign against the PKK in the country’s southeastern Kurdish region after Ankara ended a two-year ceasefire agreement. Since the beginning of the campaign, Ankara has imposed several round-the-clock curfews, preventing Kurdish civilians from fleeing regions where the military operations are being conducted.

In March 2017, the Turkish security forces accused by UN of committing serious abuses during operations against Kurdish militants in the nation’s southeast.

The PKK took up arms in 1984 against the Turkish state, which still denies the constitutional existence of Kurds, to push for greater autonomy for the Kurdish minority who make up around 22.5 million of the country’s 79-million population. Nearly 40,000 people have been killed in the resulting conflict since then.

A large Kurdish community in Turkey and worldwide openly sympathise with PKK rebels and Abdullah Ocalan, who founded the PKK group in 1974, and has a high symbolic value for most Kurds in Turkey and worldwide according to observers.

Source: Ekurd.com