ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – President of the Kurdistan Region, Masoud Barzani, said that he will not stand in the next Kurdistan Region’s presidential elections in a meeting with Turkmen officials on Thursday.

“I am not interested in the position of the president, but other (Kurdish) parties have not agreed to choose someone for the position,” Barzani was quoted as saying by Majed Bazergan, Head of the Turkmen committee in the Kurdistan Region’s parliament. 

Bazergan added that Barzani has said that he is not going to desert his responsibilities since Kurdistan is in a war against ISIS and is in a severe financial crisis.

“Even if there will be an election for the presidency, I am not going to be a candidate,” Bazergan quoted Barzani.

Barzani made his comments in a meeting with Turkmen parliamentary officials in Erbil on Thursday. 

“The president of the Kurdistan Region has discussed the political and financial crisis in the region as well as the ISIS war with us,” Bazergan said.

He added that Barzani has reiterated his support to Turkmen and other ethnic groups in the Kurdistan Region and Iraq, saying that their rights under the constitution must be respected.

Barzani has previously said that he will step down as president after Kurdistan gains independence. A referendum on the issue is expected to be held later this year, before the US election in November.