Kurdistan’s security forces must respect right to protest, but protests must be peaceful: UK consul general

James Thornton, Britain's Consul General in Erbil, spoke to Rudaw anchor Shaho Amin on Thursday evening on Brexit, Britain’s use of the coronavirus vaccine, the UK's potential role in mediating Erbil-Baghdad tensions, and protests in the Kurdistan Region that originally demanded an end to civil sector pay cuts and delays.

On the deadly protests that have engulfed the Kurdistan Region provinces of Halabja and Sulaimani, Thornton said he was particularly concerned by the use of live fire against protestors, and called on security forces to “exercise restraint”. He also called on protests to be conducted “peacefully”.

Rudaw: The UK has little time left to reach a deal with the European Union (EU). Are there going to be any deals, or will the UK just leave without any agreements made?

James Thornton: We have a deal already, what the issue now is whether there will be a free trade agreement. We want a free trade agreement along the lines of what the EU has already signed with many other countries. But if that's not possible, we'll manage without. We are negotiating deals with a large number of other countries. Only today we signed one with Singapore, and a few weeks ago we signed one with Japan, one of the world's largest economies. We have a very strong economy, a little bit reduced because of Covid, but we'll bounce back. We have the world's largest financial centre, I'm sure we'll do very well with or without a trade deal with the European Union.

What is your stance on the problems between Erbil and Baghdad?

We are very keen to see a deal done between Baghdad and Erbil, first of all on the question of course on the question of oil and finance and so on, but in due course on issues like security, security cooperation against Daesh [Islamic State], which is still a threat, and to resolve the underlying questions about the disputed territories. We raise these issues regularly with both sides, with the government here in the Kurdistan Region and the government in Baghdad. The last people to do that were our two ministers, who were here last week. We think that with compromise, a deal should be possible, but each side will need to understand the position of the other. The government in Baghdad needs to understand why it is that the Kurdistan Region needs the money, but the Kurdistan Region may need to be flexible because there is less money available because of the drop in oil prices.

In the past, we saw UK embassy in Baghdad trying to encourage both sides to find a solution, and trying to act as a moderator between them. Now, the Kurdistan Region wants an international party to monitor its negotiations with Baghdad. Is the UK ready to take on that role? 

Look, we will do whatever we think will be helpful, and if we are asked to be a monitor by both sides – clearly there would need to be an agreement – then that's something that we would look very carefully at, yes, because sometimes international partners can play a constructive role in that way. But ultimately, it has to be a deal done between the governments of the Kurdistan Region and of the whole of Iraq in Baghdad, and the terms of agreement will need to be reached by then.

What is your opinion about the recent demonstrations and the subsequent violence in the provinces of Sulaimani and Halabja?

We are actually very concerned about the situation. We've seen the violence and the casualties that have happened in Sulaimani and in Halabja, and we're also concerned about the use of live fire by the security authorities. So on the one hand, we call on the security authorities to respect the right to peaceful protest, and to exercise restraint. But on the other hand, we call on those protesting to do so peacefully.

The UK was the first western country to start COVID-19 vaccinations. Is everyone in the UK going to receive the vaccine?

I'm expecting the vaccine, or a vaccine, to be offered to anyone in the UK who wants it. There is a question of when it will be available – or in sufficient quantities, because it will take time to manufacture, there are 64 million of us. It will be offered initially to the old, to health workers and care workers, and to those with underlying health conditions. Will it come to the consulate in Erbil? Yes, we'll be vaccinating our staff here, those who wish it. It will not be obligatory to have the vaccine, but we will strongly encourage it, and I personally will take it.

Two of those who were vaccinated have suffered from allergy-like side effects. Do you think that’s because your country rushed into vaccinations?

Inevitably, there was a lot of pressure to ensure that we were able to benefit from any vaccine which was declared safe. But we have a world-leading regulatory authority that is rightly very focused on the safety of any vaccine or any medicine that is produced, and they would not have made the decision to authorise the use of this first vaccine without very careful consideration. I would say that the tests done were very large scale, so a couple of people developing allergies in tests of tens of thousands is not a large number. I'm sure that the authorities will be looking at that evidence, but on the other hand, we have a virus that has so far killed one and a half million people worldwide, and infected 69 million people. It is doing a very great deal of damage, so I welcome the fact that we have one vaccine that's already been authorised, hopefully a couple more in the process of getting authorisation. So I hope that the corner will be turned, and that we'll be over this terrible crisis.

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