Nazem Dabbag, the representative of Kurdistan Regional Government in Iran in a round table with Bahram Amir-Ahmadian, researcher of Turkey Issues, and Mehdi Motahhar-Nia, expert and Futurist,  analyzed Racep Tayyip Erdoghan’ new policy in fighting ISIS and P.K.K of which main points followed:

In the answer to the question about the cause of Turkey’s fighting against ISIS and P.K.K Dabbagh told: in my view, Turkey's invasion of ISIS and P.K.K, Suicide Terrorism of Suruc and Turkey’ reaction to that terrorist attack was a scenario as a whole. After being unsuccessful in his regional policy against Syria and establishing Ottoman Empire, Turkey wanted going to regional changing in a new manner, since if it had not had active role in the region, it would have omitted. The second issue was the current election of Turkey. The cabinet now being forced in Turkey conceived if election repeats, by missions against P.K.K and ISIS, it is able to re-obtain all votes that it has lost as a result of the political problems and ISIS in Iraq.     

Dabbagh mentioned about the duties of regional states in this critical situation. He stated: everyone looks at this situation in lens of his benefits. I, as a Kurd, always tell that Kurds should be aware that not going to the core of states contests. I currently in an interview notified that land of Kurds as an Arian race has been Iran. Hence, Iraqi Kurds and Iran could be strategic allies. Without accusation to the turkey to assist ISIS, Dabbagh stated that assistances to the ISIS dispatch by land and the solely land road for helping ISIS is Turkey.  

Dabbagh, in continue, added: in the regional changing US has win much more than other. In my point of view ISIS would not be obliterated. It will get weak but remain. For the ground making it exists in the region and, so, as long as these grounds would not obliterate, ISIS will be alive. The religious, social, economic and even cultural ground for growth of ISIS has stayed alive. 

Ultimately, Dabbagh said: the last issue I want to mention it is that the enemy of Kurdish movement created ISIS, because of this, in the first days that ISIS occupied Mosul, I had a media interview and told that this accident made Kurd and Iraq allied. But I warned that whether ISIS could occupy Baghdad or not, it would assault to Kurdistan Region.

Erbil, Kurdistan Region, Iraq (dfr.gov.krd) - The Chief of Staff to the Kurdistan Region President, Dr Fuad Hussein, and the Head of the Department of Foreign Relations, Minister Falah Mustafa, today briefed diplomats and representatives of international organizations on the latest security, humanitarian and political developments.

Minister Mustafa thanked diplomats for attending the session and for their confidence in the stability and security of the Kurdistan Region. He gave an overview of the security, humanitarian and political developments in the Kurdistan Region.

The Minister expressed appreciation of the people of Kurdistan Region to the members of the Counter-ISIS Coalition for supporting Kurdistan Region in the fight against international terrorism. He also thanked members of the international community, UN agencies and international organizations for providing humanitarian assistance to the refugees and displaced people who have fled to the safety of the Kurdistan Region. 

Dr. Fuad Hussein, Chief of Staff to the President, briefed the diplomats on the political and legal challenges facing the issue of the presidency of Kurdistan Region. He announced “We are taking the legal and political challenges pertaining to the issue of presidency very seriously. The five major political parties are engaged in lengthy negotiations to reach a consensus on that matter.”

“We are a democracy in the making. Our political parties have chosen to resolve their differences through dialogue and negotiation. We consider this as a very positive development in the democratic process of the Kurdistan Region,” the Chief of Staff to the President added.

During the meeting several diplomats reiterated their support for the Kurdistan Region and praised democratic maturity of Kurdish political parties.

On behalf of the diplomatic corps, the Consul General of Palestine, who serves as the dean of the diplomats, Nazmi Hazouri, thanked the DFR for the briefing and highlighted the importance of a united and strong Kurdistan Region for the regional peace and stability.
Consul General of the Republic of France, Alain Guépratte, conveyed “The French authorities are closely monitoring developments in the Kurdistan Region. We have confidence in the Kurdistan Region and we fully support the region’s effort to overcome the current challenges. We believe that the political parties will be able to reach a consensus on the issue of the presidency of the Kurdistan Region.”

Head of the Consular office of the Republic of Italy, Carmelo Ficarra, stated, “Italy shares the same sentiment of France towards Kurdistan Region. Italy believes in the stability and security of the Kurdistan Region and it will continue to support the region in all fronts.”

Head of the UNAMI Regional Office in Erbil, Sokol Kondi, expressed the support of the United Nations to the stability of the Kurdistan Region. “Political differences need to be resolved through dialogue and negotiation. I commend the Kurdish political parties for seeking democratic tools to reach an agreement on the issue of Presidency of the Kurdistan Region, this is a positive step forward in the democratic process of this region,” he added.

Several other diplomats including representatives of UK, Iran and Kuwait exchanged thoughts on the developments in the Kurdistan Region.

The meeting was attended  by representatives of Palestine, Republic of France, United Arab Emirates, Republic of Turkey, People’s Republic of China, United Kingdom, Republic of Italy, Republic of South Korea, Federal Republic of Germany,  Republic of Romania,  Islamic Republic of Iran,  Russian Federation,  Republic of Hungary,  Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,  State of Kuwait,  Kingdom of Netherlands,  Arab Republic of Egypt,  United States of America,  Czech Republic,  Canada,  Republic of Bulgaria, Republic of Sudan and UNAMI. 

Kurdistan Region President Masoud Barzani welcomed Norway’s Foreign Minister Borge Brende and Norway’s Defense Minister Ine Marie Eriksen Søreide in his office in Salahaddin today. 

In their meeting, President Barzani and the Norwegian Ministers discussed Norway’s role, as part of the international coalition against ISIS, in supporting the peshmerga forces with training and capacity building. They also discussed political developments in the country and in the wider region.

Foreign Minister Brende commended the role of President Barzani in leading the peshmerga forces against ISIS terrorists and for his personal involvement in supervising battles in the front lines against the terrorists. He reiterated his country’s commitment to continue to support the peshmerga forces in confronting the terrorists’ threat. 

President Barzani thanked Norway’s for its support and expressed his hope that this cooperation can be further strengthened. He said the with the support of Norway and other coalition partners the peshmerga forces have been able to stand up to the ISIS terrorists and inflict many losses on them. 
On the political developments in Kurdistan, the President said that what is happening is a natural outcome of a democratic process, emphasizing that the political disputes between the parties have not in any way affected the morale of the peshmerga forces. 

The President and the Norwegian delegation also discussed developments in Syria and in Turkey. On the current conflict between Turkey and the PKK, the President said that the only solution is going back to negotiations, and the KRG is ready to help restart the peace process. 

Ilna: the measurement of Iran and KR’s economic cooperation, problems between them, and the crisis of ISIS effectiveness on economic cooperation is the news subject about which Ilna reporter talked to Nazem Dabbagh, the representative of KRG of Iraq in Iran. With regards to the position of economic of KRG after ISIS’s attack Dabbagh said it caused many problems to KR. The Region, presently, has got an 1150km border with ISIS. This has caused to decrease the economic relations. Breaking off the Region’s budget by Iraq central government, besides war expenditure, has caused KRG not been able to start rebuild industrial and development projects. Even the presence of tourists in KR has decreased and continued up to now. Unfortunately financial crisis has caused that more than 250 companies have gone bankrupt which has increased the unemployment in the Region. In such situations Iranian companies have got into problems too.

Concerning possible fields of KRG and Iran’s cooperation in the space of post-sanctions Dabbagh said: according both security, policy and economic there are conditions to be available to cooperate in these fields. But the termination of Iran’s sanctions is not an event to occur in a few weeks, so we should wait for the agreements to be performed.

In a response to a question relating left tendencies of Kurdish parties in the past, Dabbagh replied: presently I don’t want to say on the behalf of parties like Patriotic Union. However, generally speaking, economic and social thoughts dominating Kurdistan are more willing to Democrat Socialist. In Kurdistan we basically believe in private sector as well as economic freedoms. For this has caused our country to grow. We no longer look for a Socialistic or Marxist system. Marxist’s period has gone over. This theory even did not benefit to Soviet. We also use Liberalist doctrines in the field of economy. We have unilaterally opened the Kurdistan Region’s border to our neighbors, especially Iran. Presently if one wants to enter the Region for economy activities and investment, he does not need passport. About the level of the KR and Iran’s economic cooperation Dabbagh added: it was good in the past but not now. However we expect to take pace forward improvement, as well. He said: the level amounted to 6 billion dollars and we have planned to grow this to 10 billion dollars. Before ISIS around 5 billion dollars of that was met. Of course the transfer of money was effective.

Nazem Dabbagh the representative of KRG of Iraq in Iran left a note of for Iran Press on Thurseday concerning the terrorist attack to Kurdish youths caravan in Surouch of Turkey of which most important line as followed:

Surouch adjacent to Turkey and Syria border was the scene of a horrible terrorist explosion. Ahmed David Oughlu, the prime minister of Turkey knew ISIS the cause for this suicidal attack. While condemning this terrorist action, he promised to punish the actors. Nevertheless, Turkish Syrian and Iraq Kurds have suffered hurts like Kubane tragedy as a result of the appearance of ISIS, they will not consider Davaid Oughle’s promises sufficient and Pishmerga will arise to take revenge for their innocent youths aiming to help their war-worn mankind.

Regarding Iraq and Syria’s changes it can be realized that Kurds, women in special, men and Pishmergah were the only forces who stood thoroughly against the terrorist group and played the most important roles. In addition, the victory of Democratic People Party of Kurds (HDP) in parliamentary elections of Turkey has given Kurds double strength. Nowadays the enemy of Kurds especially in Iraq, Syria and Turkey are trying to destroy them, as time being the more terrorists acts against Kurds, the better Pishmergah reacts.

Another point that should be noticed is that ISIS is not fed through sky, there are absolutely borders through where army and human aids are reached by ISIS and they are Turkey’s border. The terrorist attack om Monday to Kurdish youths caravan on Turkey border has once more again showed Ankara’s authorities that ISIS is a not a danger to one or two groups but it is an international danger.

Thus it seems that even if Turkey does not agree to withdraw from its foreign policy in the Middle East now, it will in the future. In addition to Turkey other regional countries should be warned the only option against ISIS is the international unity.   

In an interview with the reporter of Etemad Press, Nazem Dabbagh put the different aspects of Turkey’ recent army operations against ISIS and P.K.K under-discussion of which outlines as followed:

About the outcomes of violating the ceasefire by P.K.K, Dabbagh said: in general not to obedient to ceasefire is a negative work and violating it by both sides will absolutely cause challenges between them. In addition, relating to Turkey’s joining to anti-ISIS coalition, Dabbagh added: in my view Turkey at last had to fight ISIS since witnesses prove that bombing in Kurdish region in Turkey was performed by ISIS. Certainly, after finishing its mission in Iraq and Syria, ISIS will head to Turkey. The danger of ISIS is not threatening Iraq and Syria but all the region and world, thus; Turkey may use ISIS as a tool to oppress the Kurds of Iraq and Syria. Furthermore about the difference between ISIS and P.K.K in Turkey’s view Dabbagh said: it is not different for Turkey. For it considers P.K.K terrorist as ISIS. On the pretext of fighting terrorism has aimed P.K.K. but it requires to give more clear definition for terrorism so that the border between Turkey and ISIS get specified. Nowadays if there is any problem, we all have to be united so that we can defeat terrorist.

He added: in my view it will cause many great problems and destroy the peace in Kurdsih regions of turkey. He insisted: these challenges will definitely be a chance for ISIS. Fighting between Turkey and P.K.K will absolutely make it easy for ISIS to move toward Kurdish regions of Syria and cause Kurds’ positions weak severely. Finally Dabbagh mentioned the position of KRG of Iraq about this and said: KRG of Iraq has frequently followed to establish peace, stability and talks for peace and it will never get into war. If this fighting occurs, one of the regions which absolutely suffer is KRG.  

In response to a question about predicting and analyzing the current conditions in Iraq and Syria, Dabbagh said: every war will finally end and be followed by peace. It cannot be said that a war will continue forever. However to end this hostility groundwork should be laid. Presently reasons causing these conflicts in the region have to be removed until this fighting ends. The reasons are: the benefits of great countries, religion affairs and the countries seeking their benefits through these tenseness’. Relating to Turkey changing its positions against ISIS Dabbagh said: some countries including Turkey on the pretext of supporting opposition of Syria against Bashar Assad have fallen into ISIS’s well. Unlike what Turkey predicted Bashar Assad’s regime not only did not fall in 10 days but it also has resisted for four years. In such conditions Turkey has tried to impose its idea but has failed as of a yet. Now this is Kurds like P.K.K and PYD have shown more resistance against ISIS. Dabbagh added that we should not begin to take revenge from this or that group, but real forces of Shia, Sunni and Kurds have to try to gain their lost rights. Dabbagh said that the war will end and the foreign countries will rush to rebuild the region; and we have to try this process to be managed by politician and leaders.

Concerning this claim that to resist against ISIS Kurds are looking for autonomy Dabbagh said: after World War I, Kurds have been divided in Iran, Syria and Iraq. The historical truth is that Iran has been Kurds’ main homeland. During Iran-Ottoman war Kurds presented in both sides and fought along with their country’s force. After Iraq and Syria had formed a part of Kurdistan was given to Iraq and another part to Iran, Turkey and Syria. The reason Kurds fighting central government has been for their violated rights. If it does not reach its right it will resist. In new Iraq the most important factor making both dictator fall and new Iraq form was Kurds. At the time of Saddam Hussein the Kurdistan Region of Iraq was separated and was given budget by the UN. For instance, the oil of Kirkuk which was pleasure to Kurds during history changed to their misery. Iraq, Turkey and Syria have always considered it allowable to be unfair against Kurds and they have had to resist to and fight to gain their right during the history. Presently Ayatollah Sistani have supported and astonished Kurds and the leader of Kurd, Jalal Talibani. Ayatollah Sistani also said: whoever takes over the leadership of Kurds, Iraq must accept it. In Iran the conditions for Kurds are different. In Iraq, Syria and Turkey Kurds do not want their rights more than what is specified in the constitution and governments has to admit this.

About I.R. of Iran Dabbagh said: Islamic revolution was a positive point for us since one of the enemies of Kurds was former Shah of Iran. After Islamic revolution’s victory, Iran has turned out to be a strong and safe shelter Iraqi Kurds and poor people of Iraq. Indeed it is a shelter for Iraqi fighters. Generally speaking I deem Islamic revolution as an event of the century. We Kurds owe to Iran, for Iran’s support has helped Kurds to be strengthened. About imperialism Dabbagh said it is we that lay the ground for them to penetration. About how to establish security in Iraq, the most strategy is to strengthen the unity, Dabbagh said. To justify this claim he mentioned the historical witnesses at the time of Saddam and occupying Mosul just by ISIS’ 300-400 forces.                    

Nazem Dabbagh the representative of Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq in Iran, mentioning that Iran have been having positive relation with Kurds, especially with ones of Iraq and always been helping them in though conditions, said to the reporter of Aftab News Agancy: it can even be said that Iran has supported Iraq; whether military or charitably. In tough conditions Iran offered us shelter, especially whatever Iran did for Kurds in Halabcheh crime will be kept in Kurds’ memory. Iran opened its border to homeless families and international reporters to come to see the bitter fact happening in Halabcheh. By Iran we could announce this criminal act of Saddam to the world followed by good reactions. He continued to mention the volume of exchanges and different borders considered to deal with Iran.

Indicating bombing in Kubaney and the death of Kurdish youths ready to help Kurds of Kubane and Syria, Dabbagh said: unfortunately this explosion left lots of hurts and martyrs, if this is no scenario on the behalf of some, has caused Turkey to realize that ISIS is a danger to them, as well. Presently we have witnessed the Turkey fighters bombed ISIS’ positions. However, unfortunately it has caused the ceasefire to be violated. For the operations of Turkish fighters on the border of the Kurdistan Region and Iraq has made riot among Kurds in Turkish cities. I advise that they should not think of war since it is not beneficial to anyone. It is necessary to mention we have to enjoy the experience of Iran and 5+1 nuclear negotiations.

The representative of KRG in Iran said the international governments should understand that ISIS is a threat to the world, humanity and civilized world and added: ISIS does not even show compassion to ancient areas. ISIS has created fear and violation on the behalf of Islam for people. I want to say that to take revenge from a country one must not use ISIS, but other tools.