Why and how the Kurdish autonomous state ended in jeopardy

Rauf Naqishbendi | Exclusive to iKurd.net

The Arab-fashioned leadership in Iraq is at work to consolidate its power and solidify its armed forces, targeting the restoration of a strong sovereign government, which means an authoritarian government that will reveal its ugly smite upon Kurdish leaders, implying that, as a minority in Iraq, they wouldn’t be trusted to act or behave in any manner like the sovereign state, thereby defying Baghdad’s authority.

To start, the Iraqi government thwarted Kurds from selling their oil, employing Iraqi troops in borders to collect tariffs, the central government paying employees’ wages without KRG’s involvement, reducing the number of seats held by Kurds in the parliament from 110 to 100, and more to come.

After the American invasion of Iraq, in 2005 new Iraqi constitution was written and supported by the United States and was endorsed by the Iraqi parliament. Kurdistan was declared as an autonomous region. But in many crucial aspects, the Iraqi constitution was ambiguous, vague, and open to speculation. Amongst the most vital issues are: first: Iraq’s constitution calls for shared responsibility between the federal government and the Kurdish Regional Government(KRG) over the oil and gas sector. Second: Kurdistan was declared an autonomous region of Iraq, yet its border was not defined. Third: the federal government is given exclusive control over foreign policy, national security matters, and fiscal and monetary policy.

A man reads Iraqi constitution draft in Baghdad, Iraq, 2005. Photo: Reuters

In a federalist system, federated states are bound by the national constitution where deviation from the federal constitution is disallowed within the individual states, yet they are empowered to institute their constitution in matters deemed appropriate to their local jurisdiction, such as budgeting, taxation, education, minimum wage, occupational health, safety, managing state properties, and law enforcement institution.

The Iraqi constitution and the role of the federated Kurdistan region were from the beginning a flaw. The way the constitution has been written made Iraqi federalism unique to Iraq. For instance, there was an objection by Ayatollah Sistani to the provision states Kurds have an effective veto over the text of Iraq’s permanent constitution, that provision doesn’t exist anywhere else in the world. Kurdish leaders had gone too far in their demand for two levels of government to rule the same land and people.

Matters essential to the life of the nation such as defense, foreign policy issues, controlling natural resources, printing money, declaring war, post office, establishing army and navy, and commerce with other nations are powers exclusively reserved to the federal government. Should control of these matters be shared with any other groups within the country, it assuredly will weaken the central government, disfiguring economic, social, and political conditions.

The Kurdish leaders, particularly Barzanis breached the constitution. For instance, Nechirvan, and Masrour Barzani acted like the head of state undermining the Iraqi government by making agreements and contracts with other sovereign nations and corporate enterprises ignoring that Kurdistan was legally part of Iraq.

Regarding the Constitutional article calling for shared responsibility between the feral government and KRG over the oil and gas sector, the detail of how this article was applied was not defined and its execution was left in limbo. The Iraqi government had a constitutional obligation to share oil revenue with Kurds. But that wasn’t enough for tribal Barzani and Talabani, instead, they embarked on drilling oil and exporting it. Not only that, imagine while exporting oil and gas, they insisted the Iraqi government pay salaries of Kurdistan public employees. That was as ridiculous as it can be.

Kurdistan was declared an autonomous region of Iraq, yet its border was not defined and, therefore, the contested areas remained in dispute after the ratification of the Iraqi constitution.

The Kurdish leaders could have been reasonable, and honest with their people and the Iraqi people, and should not have exceeded the rights of Kurds in the federated Iraq and taken advantage of the Iraqi government’s weakness. When it comes to agreements with Iraq, they should have trodden a fine line in a way that their demand will stand the test of time. They should have left nothing vague, ambiguous, or open for speculation which could come back and hunt them resulting in disputes and contentions as it happened. But Kurdish leaders were naïve and ignorant of laws and constitution, they rushed to consent without sealing the deal, for their agenda was money and power not the interest of the nation.

Now the Iraqi government is planning to re-assert its authority over Kurdistan must understand that Kurds have been victims of tribal Barzani and Talabani, and the two dynasties are not standing for Kurds, and they are criminal enterprises and must be dealt with as such in a court of law.

A PUK security officer kicks a student protester hard in the head in Sulaimani, Iraqi Kurdistan, November 23, 2021. Video/SM

Should the Iraqi government promote peace and security, it must understand without Kurds there will be no peace and tranquility in Iraq. To this end, the Iraqi government must promote Kurds to run their affairs and have control over their jurisdiction. Iraq to share proceeds from its natural resources with Kurds proportional to their population within Iraq. Otherwise, any violation of Kurdish human rights and undermining their autonomous state will have dire consequences for Iraq as a whole. Kurds must not be judged by their corrupt leaders for Kurds are a loving nation struggling for peace and freedom.

Iraq for more than half a century has been a war-torn country hamppered by its social and economic advances and with disheartened tragedies. It’s about time to learn about the past and give the future a chance for peace to take its course. There will never be peace in Iraq without a free Kurdistan. Kurds and Arabs to live together in harmony is a recipe for national prosperity and social and economic progress. Once more, Kurds are left friendless and with corrupt leaders. Time is now for them to react and shake the yoke of repression and announce new leadership to negotiate with Baghdad otherwise the tragedies of Halabja and Anfal will be revisited.

Rauf Naqishbendi is a retired software engineer in the San Francisco Bay Area. A long-time senior contributing writer for iKurd.net. His memoirs entitled “The Garden Of The Poets”, recently published. It reads as a novel depicting his experience and the subsequent 1988 bombing of his hometown with chemical and biological weapons by Saddam Hussein. It is the story of his people´s suffering, and a sneak preview of their culture and history.

The opinions are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of iKurd.net or its editors.