ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) leader Masoud Barzani on Sunday stressed that Iraq must uphold the principles of balance, compromise and partnership outlined in the constitution. The preeminent Kurdish leader’s remarks come as Erbil-Baghdad tensions have recently simmered over the federal government’s suspension of budget payments to the Kurdistan Region.
Speaking to a delegation of Sunni Arab tribal leaders and dignitaries from Iraq’s northern Nineveh province, KDP leader Barzani underlined that “post-2003 Iraq was founded on the principles of balance, compromise and partnership within the framework of the Constitution [of Iraq],” asserting that “the only way to resolve Iraq’s problems is by adherence to these principles by all parties,” according to a statement from his office.
The preeminent Kurdish leader’s remarks come as tensions between Erbil and Baghdad have been simmering, following the Iraqi finance ministry’s announcement on Wednesday that the federal government would suspend all budget transfers to the Kurdistan Region, including salaries for over one million civil servants.
Baghdad’s move has drawn strong criticism from Kurdish political factions, who held a meeting on Saturday, chaired by the Region’s ruling KDP party, and denounced the funding suspension as a politically motivated action that undermines the constitutional and legal status of the Kurdistan Region.
Days prior, on Thursday, the KDP issued a sharply worded statement censuring the federal government for “violating the constitutional rights of the Kurdistan Region.”
The KDP further warned that “if the rights and financial entitlements of the people of the Kurdistan Region,” including public employee salaries, “are not sent before Eid al-Adha [on June 6], we will take a serious stance and announce it.”
On Sunday, KDP leader Barzani emphasized that although “the people of Kurdistan and the [successive] Iraqi governments” have faced multiple disputes throughout history, “it is a source of pride that these disagreements have never caused division with the peoples of Iraq.”
For their part, the guest delegation “expressed their gratitude to the Kurdish people and President Barzani for hosting hundreds of thousands of Iraqi refugees from Nineveh and other Iraqi provinces during difficult times,” the statement from Barzani's office added.
They also praised the Kurdish Peshmerga forces, “who played a major role in liberating many areas of Nineveh province from the [Islamic State] terrorists,” emphasizing that “these historic stances will never be forgotten.”
The Kurdistan Region and its Peshmerga forces played a crucial role in liberating large parts of Nineveh, including areas surrounding the provincial capital, Mosul, from ISIS in 2017.
The Region also opened its doors to tens of thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs) fleeing violence and instability in Nineveh and other parts of Iraq, providing shelter, humanitarian aid and support to affected families.