Respectable Mr. Tayyip Erdogan, the elected president of the Turkish Republic

On behalf of the Kurdistan Parliament _ Iraq, we congratulate you on your election as the twelfth President of the Turkish Republic.

We hope that your election inspires the peace process in Turkey and strengthens relations between the Turkish Republic and  Kurdistan region.

        Yusif Mohammed Sadiq

President of the Parliament of Kurdistan _ Iraq

                  11/8/2014

Salahaddin, Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRP.org) – Kurdistan Region President met with Iraqi Council of Representatives Speaker Osama Nujeifi in Erbil on Thursday. The two discussed political and security developments in the country, as well as the election process and political prospects for the country after this election.

They both agreed that once the final election results are announced by the Interdependent High Electoral Commission, talks should commence between all sides to rescue the country from its political crises.

Dr. Muhammad Seddigh Ahmad, the deputy-Representative of Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) of Iraq in Iran proceeded with some aspects of recent Parliament Elections of Iraq and the formation of the new cabinet in the meeting of Iraq Elections, opportunities and Challenges of the Region held by diplomacy Irani host. He noticed the Kurds unity in the matter of cooperation with new government of Iraq and emphasized that the ballots of Iraq people for a party does not mean a person’s policies triumph.

Dr. Muhammad Sddigh Ahmad in a part of his speech mentioned the possible chaos in Iraq will occur if all political parties do not participate in future government and he also believed that it is Nuri Maliki of being authoritarianism that causes such chaos but people. In addition in evaluating Mr. Mousavi phrase considering Iraq Elections as sign of victory of political process of the country and as a profit for Iran, he added that he does not believe it is advisable to be inspired that Iran supports a special person or party in Iraq to defeat this country. Basically Islamic Republic of Iran supports all Iraqi people and it is what Iran has done before.

In a part of his speech he said in my opinion it is so important for Iran to advocate people and spirituality. Of course its formal attitudes have always been in the direction of supporting moderate Shia spirituality in Iraq. In the Elections we witnessed Shia spirituality of Iraq were opposition to Iraqi Prime-Minister’s authoritarianic behaviors.

About the outcome of Iraq elections he said: in my opinion if the seats for Kurds as compared to former election does not high, it will not low either. Presently Kurds have 57 seats in Iraq Parliament and we guess this will increase in this election, also Kurds representative is not the only list of Patriotic Unions of Kurdistan of Iraq. Patriotic Union in the elections of 2010 faced decreasing ballots due to wrong tactics in dividing its representatives. It did not happen again. If we include possible seats of Patriotic Union and Change Movement altogether, they even do not amount to Kurdistan Democratic Party. Dr. Ahmad believes that the legal government coalition by itself cannot form the cabinet while has opponents among Sunni and Shia groups like Shahrvand and Sadri coalition.

As the last point Dr. Ahmad mentioned it was Kurds participation that refers to the future government. There are whispers that Nuri Maliki and the Change Movement and Patriotic Union are going to negotiate. Yesterday all Kurdish groups with the chairmanship of KR president hold a meeting. In a common notice signed by Kurdistan Democratic Party, the Change Movement, Patriotic Union and Islamic parties it was emphasized in the position of Kurds in political process of Iraq and the formation of future government. So I do not think a Kurdish group by itself negotiates with Baghdad government.

Salahaddin, Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRP.org) – Kurdistan Region President Masoud Barzani earlier today cast his vote for both the Iraqi Council of Representatives and Kurdistan Region provincial elections in a polling station in Salahaddin.

Salahaddin, Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRP.org) – Kurdistan Region President Masoud Barzani congratulated the people of Kurdistan and Iraq for their participation and praised them for their high turnout and for exercising their democratic right to vote.

In a message, the President said,” On the successful holding of elections for both the Iraqi Council of Representatives and the Kurdistan Region provincial councils, I congratulate the people of Kurdistan, political side and the Iraqi people. I specially thank the police and the security forces for ensuring security on the election day.”

The President added that, “Both local and international observers and independent NGOs have praised this successful election. I hope the results of this election will bring happiness to our people and will lead to further development of democracy in Kurdistan.”

“I call on all political sides to accept the official results which will be announced by the Independent High Electoral Commission. I hope the results will encourage all sides to work together and put national interests first.”

Erbil, Kurdistan Region, Iraq (KRG.org) – Elections for the Iraqi parliament and the provincial councils of Erbil, Slemani and Duhok went ahead peacefully and with a high turnout ‎in the Kurdistan Region.

According to initial estimates from various media outlets, 70% of eligible voters cast their ballot in Kirkuk, 73% cast their ballot in Duhok, 77% cast their ballot in Erbil and 73% cast their ballot in Slemani. Voting began at 7am and ended at 6pm and there was no curfew in the region and no security incidents were reported. Iraqi airspace was closed from 12 PM on 28 April until 6 PM today. Voting was conducted through the use of electronic cards.

The Kurdistan Regional Government has worked closely with the Independent High Electoral Commission of Iraq in the run-up to the election to ensure a free and fair vote in the Kurdistan Region. There were over 1250 local and over 280 international observers monitoring the elections in Kurdistan, including teams from the United Nations, many of the consulates based in Erbil, the Arab League, and foreign and domestic non-governmental organisations.

The US Secretary of State John Kerry said, “Millions of Iraqis courageously voted today and reaffirmed not just their commitment to democracy, but their determination to achieve a more secure and peaceful future. Iraqis from every ethnic and religious group, and from all 18 provinces, [voted] in an election critical to advancing the vision of a democratic, united, federal, and pluralistic Iraq as defined in the Iraqi constitution.”

Other governments also issued statements supporting the electoral turnout. British Foreign Secretary William Hague said, “Despite the serious challenges that Iraq faces, it is inspiring to see that millions of Iraqis have seized the opportunity to choose their new government and I pay tribute to their courage and commitment to the future of their country.”

The Special Representative of the Secretary General for Iraq and Head of the UN Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI), Nickolay Mladenov, said whilst visiting a polling station today that “Iraqis face tight security measures, yet are determined to vote in an election, crucial to democratic transition.”

Iraq’s federal elections will determine the composition of the federal parliament and eventually lead to the formation of the next Iraqi government. Kurdistan Region’s provincial elections will determine the governing councils of the Region’s governorates, which will be tasked with choosing governors for each province. IHEC will release official results for both the federal and provincial elections after the votes have been counted and registered complaints regarding the voting process have been investigated.