MESOP BACKGROUNDER : PUK BOSS FOLLOWS TEHRAN’S LINE – Kurdistan independence goes through Baghdad: Malla Bakhtiar tells Kurdpress

27 Sept 2016 – The secretary General of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), Malla Bakhtiar, stated that any decision to declare the independence of Kurdistan Region should be discussed with the central government in Baghdad.

It, however, does not mean that it is the only to declare independence and changes could bring other paths to the goal, he told Kurdpress in an interview. He went on to add that the autonomous region is grappling with economic crisis due to the sharp decrease in oil price.  Bakhtiar blamed Baghdad for not considering the Kurds in the north as a political partner but “we see Iraq as a federal state not an Iraq that belongs to them and does not send our salaries as much as it should be.”

He denied the claims that Article 140 of the Iraqi constitution, which calls for referendum to decide the fate of the disputed regions in Iraq, has been fulfilled legally, predicting that Kurdistan Region will remain a region and Iraq a federal state.www.mesop.de