In an interview last week with Qatari state broadcaster Al Jazeera, published on Monday, Talabani was asked whether current tensions between the Kurdistan Region’s two biggest parties could escalate into an armed conflict – the likes of which devastated the Region in the 1990s.
“Over my dead body,” he said. “And over the dead body of many, many Kurds.”
“This is just not something that will happen. I think nobody is willing to do that anymore. Those days are long gone. We are still paying the price of that internal conflict.
“Kurds will not, should not, and absolutely must not be allowed to kill Kurds. We need to be able to resolve our issues politically.
“I think this is the absolute doomsday scenario that every Kurd with a single brain cell would do everything in their power to make [sure] this never, never happens and I can’t see it happening,” he added.
For a large portion of the interview, Talabani downplayed the ongoing disagreements between the two parties, which – after an initial period of close collaboration – collapsed over the question of the Iraqi presidency.
Since 2005, the post of Iraqi president has always been held by a Kurd – specifically a member of the PUK – first by Jalal Talabani, then by Fuad Masum.
As the biggest Kurdish party to emerge from the May 12 Iraqi parliamentary elections, the KDP argued it was entitled to take the presidency this time around, nominated Fuad Hussein for the post.
However, rather than nominating a single Kurdish candidate for the job, the PUK insisted upon its own – Barham Salih. Put to a vote in the Iraqi parliament, the PUK’s candidate won by a large margin. The KDP called it a betrayal.
“There was a little disagreement along the way but perhaps not as big a disagreement as it’s being shown in the media,” Talabani told Al Jazeera.
“We think really there was not enough time to make a decision. We used to have a strategic alliance with the KDP and the strategic alliance was that the KDP would have – or one of the parties – would have the regional president and in return, the other party would have the president in Baghdad. This became complicated the position of president in the north has been put on hold.
“As the position has been put on hold, the powers of the president have been spread among the prime minister and certain other places. So it seemed difficult for us, as the PUK, to have both presidents in effect with the KDP.
“So what we wanted to do was make some kind of an arrangement where Dr Barham [Salih], the PUK candidate, was the candidate of the Kurds as a whole.
“Unfortunately, there didn’t seem to be enough time to manage these negotiations with the KDP. So, what happened was, both parties ended up going to Baghdad with two different candidates.
“This saddened me a great deal because I would have preferred the Kurds to have made their own decisions before going to Baghdad.”
Talabani nevertheless said a portion of the blame for the recent rancor lay with his party.
“The PUK has had problems internally. Imam Jalal [Talabani] became sick and then, sadly, passed away. The PUK had lots of issues amongst itself, issues of confidence, issues of direction, issues of unity. And because of this, it’s been very difficult to make concrete and strategic deals with the KDP, with Gorran [Movement].
“But now a more unified and cohesive PUK is able now to make the appropriate agreements and alliances with all the political parties that it needs to do,” he added.
Talabani said he is “optimistic” about future partnerships with the KDP, insisting their friendships are “very deep”.
“Some of the people I most respect politically and as people are members of the KDP, people like Nechirvan Barzani, obviously Kak Masoud [Barzani] himself, Kak Masrour [Barzani],” he said.
Another subject given particular prominence in the interview was the question of where the PUK stands on Kurdish independence one year on from the referendum.
The September 25, 2017 referendum – championed by KDP president Masoud Barzani – gave Erbil a huge mandate to negotiate the Region’s split from Iraq. Although it backed the referendum, the PUK was wary about its timing.
Following the referendum, Iraqi forces and Iran-backed Shiite paramilitias advanced on Kirkuk and other areas disputed between the Baghdad and the KRG. The PUK was accused of negotiating the withdrawal of Peshmerga forces under its command, leaving Kirkuk defenseless.
In his interview, Talabani acknowledged there is an appetite for independence among Kurds, but said achieving it “unilaterally” in the current climate is unrealistic. Power, he said, rests with Baghdad.
“I don’t think independence is out of the question and I don’t think it’s an issue that needs addressing now. We have so many current problems, we have so many issues that we need to overcome,” he said.
“We need to be part of Iraq, the strength of the region for now for us is through Baghdad. And I think every Kurd wants an independent Kurdistan, but the reality of the situation is that this cannot happen unilaterally.
“Baghdad, some of the surrounding countries have to agree to this and we have to make movements towards that very carefully in a considered diplomatic manner,” he added.
