The KRG‘s Quest for Independence


  • Date : 21/06/2017
  • Time : 13:00 : 15:00
  • Venue : SETA Ankara
  • End  : 21/06/2017
  • Address : Nenehatun Cad No:66, 06700 Ankara,Türkiye

  • Moderator : Emrah KEKILLI, SETA
  • Speakers :Ilnur ÇEVIK, Senior Advisor to the President of Turkey

    Hisham AL-ALAWI, Ambassador of Iraq to Turkey

    Hamza JUBURI, Former Head of Nahrain Center, Iraq

    Hemin HAWRAMI, Senior Advisor to the President of KRG

On June 21, 2017, the question of the status of the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) in Iraq was discussed at SETA. SETA researcher Emrah Kekilli moderated the panel titled “The KRG’s Quest for Independence,” whose speakers included , İlnur Çevik, head advisor to the president of Turkey; Hisham Al-Alawi, Iraqi ambassador to Ankara; Hamza Cuburi, former president of the Nahrain Center; and Hemin Hawrami, head advisor to the president of the KRG.

In his speech, Head Advisor Hawrami underlined the Iraqi Kurds’ right to the referendum. He argued that the road to independence should be based on the decision of the people. Rejecting claims that Kurdish independence would lead to insecurity in the region, Hawrami called attention to the Peshmerga’s fight against terror. He emphasized the importance of independence for the establishment of communication channels between Baghdad and Erbil. According to Hawrami, KRG independence will not jeopardize the security of Syria, Iran, or Turkey. Turkish and international support on this issue is critical in securing regional stability.

Ambassador Al-Alawi, on the other hand, espoused the contrary view, namely that KRG independence would adversely affect the future of the Kurds. According to Al-Alawi, there is no legal basis in the Iraqi Constitution for the planned referendum. A crisis among regional actors would be likely to ensue as a result of independence.

As head advisor to the Turkish presidency, İlnur Çevik made it clear that he was in favor of Iraq’s territorial integrity and that independence may cause the KRG economic difficulties as well. The rise of cross-border threats and problems for Turkey was also one of Mr. Çevik’s major concerns regarding Iraqi Kurdish independence.

Hamza Cuburi, the former president of the Nahrain Center, argued that the referendum would not solve the issues faced by the Kurds. He emphasized the need for mutual dialogue for the solution of these issues. Cuburi stated that the referendum would encourage thoughts of independence in Kurds in other countries in the region, such as Turkey and Iran. He advised the Kurds as well as other ethnic groups to resolve their problems through mutual dialogue, rather than referenda.

The panel featured a discussion on the independence debate within the KRG on the basis of the Kurdish goverment’s internal dynamics and elicited reflections on the region by the participating experts. The panel was followed by a Q&A session.