Kurdistan
Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani speaking during a presser in Erbil on November 11, 2025. Photo: Bilind T. Abdullah/Rudaw
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani on Thursday reiterated that the Region “will not engage in any conflict or military escalation” that risks the security and lives of its people, as he marked the 35th anniversary of Kurdistan’s 1991 uprising.
“We reaffirm that the Kurdistan Region will consistently serve as a cornerstone of peace and will not engage in any conflict or military escalation that jeopardizes the lives and security of our people,” President Barzani said, according to a statement from the Kurdistan Region Presidency.
His remarks come as the Kurdistan Region has found itself caught in the crossfire of the conflict between the US-Israeli coalition and Iran since Saturday.
Hemn Hawrami, a member of the Region’s ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) politburo, rejected reports in a Thursday post on X claiming that the Kurdistan Region or Kurds in Iraq were “being a part of a plan to arm & support the Iranian Kurdish opposition to cross the borders into Iran.”
“We are not a part of this war & our goal is to preserve, maintain peace and security of our region & beyond,” he said.
Reports circulating Wednesday and early Thursday suggested that Kurdish forces had launched a ground operation into Iran from the country’s western border.
“Safeguarding the status of the Kurdistan Region and our constitutional achievements can only be realized through unity, solidarity, and a collective national responsibility among all political parties, and communities in Kurdistan,” Barzani said.
Last week, Iranian Kurdish opposition parties announced a new political coalition - the Coalition of Political Forces of Iranian Kurdistan - aimed at unifying their efforts against the Islamic republic and advancing Kurdish self-determination.
Following the announcement of the alliance, the Kurdistan Region’s Interior Ministry issued a statement distancing the Region from Iranian Kurdish armed opposition groups and reiterating that its territory would not be used to threaten neighboring countries.
President Nechirvan Barzani’s statement came as he commemorated the 35th anniversary of Kurdistan’s 1991 uprising against the former Iraqi regime.
The revolt, which spread across Kurdish towns and cities, resulted in the expulsion of the Iraqi army from most of those areas, creating the conditions for the establishment of a Kurdish parliament in 1992.
"I extend warm congratulations to the honored families of martyrs, the heroic Peshmerga, and all Kurdistanis inside and outside the country," he said in the statement.
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