Al-Tayeb explained the reasons why the Kurdish are scared of the billion dollar Russian arms deals with Iraq as well as their thoughts on multi-national oil company Exxon Mobil leaving oil fields in southern Iraq to focus on new oil deals made with Iraqi Kurdistan.
NIQASH: It’s hardly the best relationship anyway. But a recent US$5 billion arms deal between the Iraqi government and Russia seems to have made things worse. This makes Russia Iraq's biggest supplier of weapons after the US. Could you explain why the Iraqi Kurdish are so worried about this?
Al-Tayeb: Our fears around these arms deals are based on several things. We are concerned that the Iraqi government may resort to military power and violence to resolve internal issues between Kurdish and Arabs in this country. We became more concerned about this when the Iraqi army was deployed around Kirkuk and Zamar recently – and without anybody informing the Kurdish government.
[Editor’s note: Mosul, Kirkuk and other parts of the state of Ninawa are what are best described as Iraq’s disputed territories. That is, there is land there that Iraqi Kurdistan says belongs to Iraqi Kurdistan but which Baghdad says belongs to Iraq.]
NIQASH: Even more recently, on Oct 13, one of the leading members of the State of Law bloc, Yassin Majid, an MP and a former media adviser to the Prime Minister, said that Kurdish politician, Massoud al-Barzani – also the President of Iraqi Kurdistan – was a “a real danger to Iraq’s economy and national security”. Majid also said that al-Barzani “wants Erbil to hold a political role at the expense of Baghdad. Some Iraqi political forces, especially the Iraqiya list, are supporting him.” Your thoughts on these incendiary comments, which another leading Kurdish politician, Jalal al-Talabani, has described as a “call to war”?
Al-Tayeb: We believe Majid’s statements reflect the views of many Arabists who still dream that they can restore their vision of the old Iraq, where the Kurdish were excluded from power. I believe that Majid is making these statements in order to stir up resentment among the Arab people.
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