MESOP : LAST EXCIT SCOTLAND – BRITS

British Foreign Secretary Suggests Greater Autonomy for the Kurdistan Region

14.10.2014 – Luke Coleman – BasNews, Erbil – British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond visited the Kurdistan Region and Baghdad on Monday 13th October and delivered the Iraqi federal government a stark, simple message – it’s in the ’last-chance saloon’. Referring to the havoc wreaked by Islamic State since the beginning of the year, Hammond insisted that Iraq must remain a single state, “I think Iraq is in the last-chance saloon as a unitary state. And it’s very clear that the Kurds won’t sit around for another 10 years for another go at unitary Iraq. There is literally everything to play for.”

He warned Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi that the sectarian polices of his predecessor, Nouri al-Maliki, were largely to blame for the rise of IS and the Shia majority must create an inclusive government with Sunni and Kurdish interests. To keep the country together, he said, the Kurdistan Region will demand further autonomy, a situation he described as “Devo-Max” (maximum devolution).

Hammond was asked about the recent Scottish referendum on independence in the UK, and how it might be used as a model for the separatist Kurdistan Region.  “I hope the experience of Scotland will be a useful model for the people of Iraq. The people of Scotland looked long and hard at the question of separatism and decided that they will be better off together in the United Kingdom.”  he believes that the UK is stronger for remaining together, albeit it with greater devolution expected, and sees it as a template for a successful Iraq. During his visit to the Kurdish capital of Erbil, Hammond met with the Kurdistan Region President Massoud Barzani and other senior Kurdish officials. Afterwards he held a press conference with Kurdistan PM Nechirvan Barzani.