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News and comment by The Kurdistan Tribune:
Update 19.10.11: PUK politburo member Mulla Bakhtiar reported yesterday (in a seminar at the Institute for Kurdish Issues in Sulaymani), that during his visit to Baghdad last week with other Kurdish parties he was told by representatives of the Iraqi Dawa party, Islamic Party and Sadrist movement that they do not believe in the Kurdish nationalist cause. Mulla Bakhtiar commented that this is unacceptable.
Following orders from the Iraqi PM Nouri al-Maliki, or people close to him, Iraqi security officers have tried to bring down the flag of Kurdistan in government buildings in Khanakin and the people of that city and beyond have reacted with anger.
Demonstrations against the Iraqi government have taken place in Khanakin and other towns and cities across South Kurdistan. Everywhere in the disputed areas of South Kurdistan people are waving the Kurdish flag. This situation has inflamed the zeal of the nationalist people of Kurdistan in their demands for a Kurdish state. On Tuesday 18th October Adel Abdulmahdi, the former deputy president of Iraq, made an unexpected visit to Erbil to discuss the situation with KRG President Barzani.
The relationship between the KRG and Baghdad government has never been good since 2003.There is a good constitution but it has not been implemented. The only difference between the new Iraqi government and the old one is their military capabilities.The old Saddam regime had a one million-strong army but this government only has some militias to protect it. However, in its intentions it is just as chauvinist and racist towards the Kurds. The best example of this is the Iraqi government’s persistent failure to implement Article 140 to allow self-determination and to normalise the situation in Kirkuk.
Masud Barzani’s meeting with Kurdistani political parties on Sunday discussed these issues. It concluded that the main reason for not getting anywhere with Baghdad is the weakness in the alliance between the ruling KRG parties, the KDP and the PUK. Arif Tayfur, an Iraqi parliament deputy, blamed Kurdish lawmakers in Baghdad for not working hard enough to secure a satisfactory agreement with the Iraqi government.
