European Union is the biggest economic force at the global level. It is so effective, in terms of decision making, that in 2003 it did not allow the decision of liberating Iraq in Security Council to be under international legislation. More importantly, most of the NATO’s members which consist of 29 members and consider one of the biggest military alleys globally are in this union, and without them, even if Turkey is included, the united states and Canada will remain alone. Thus, European Union can be seen today as having a strong impact on the politics worldwide. Hence, all political entities in the world try to attract the attention of this big political, military, and economic force in conducting their strategies. It is obvious that Iraq is and was a concern for this union as its members have had interests with Iraq.



The union has been trying hard to support and help reconstructing Iraq as a federal state since 2003. Yet, Iraqi government has not been able to meet the hopes of this union over the past decade. In return, Kurdistan Region has shown itself as a model of a democratic region to the world, and is labeled as the other Iraq by the members of the union. Many members of the union opened their councils in Erbil and their companies came to Kurdistan. This means Kurdistan is important for the union. In this regard, European parliament received president Barzani so he presented a speech about Iraq’s future, Kurdistan and the region at large. For further insight into the mutual interests between Kurdistan region and EU, we interviewed Mr. Struan Stevenson, president of European parliament’s delegation for relations with Iraq.





Gulan: to what extent is Iraq important for the EU policies towards Middle East?



Stevenson: It is of great importance as Iraq is a pivotal in the Middle East. We hope that Iran seems to be increasing its entrance in Iraq. And Iraq has been always a big trading partner with Europe. Since the American invasion, they have invested a lot in Iraq trying to rebuild the infrastructure and help the people of Iraq to recover from the war, but unfortunately the current government has betrayed the people of Iraq by being sectarian, by favoring only one sect of the population. Nuri Al-Maliki, by control of all the key ministries of security, defense, internal affairs, and military within his office instead of handing these out as the Erbil Agreement required following the last election. He is responsible for deterioration which now could lead to civil war in Iraq.



Gulan: As you know Iraq’s situation is unstable and insecure, but within this there is a democratic and developed region of Kurdistan. In this regard, how do Iraq’s delegation in particular and European Union look at Kurdistan Region and to what extent is EU concerned about the existence of this prosperous and democratic region within Iraq?



Stevenson: In regards to Kurdistan, we think that Kurdistan is extremely important. President Masoud Brazani visited Brussels last week to address the forum affairs committee. I met him many times before, most recently in November last year when I was in Erbil and had a meeting with him and I said to him at that time that the contrast between the way Nuri Al-Maliki have been welcomed in Washington was quite cold and frosty compared to the very warm welcome that Masoud Barzani received in Istanbul and Ankara from the Turkish Prime Minister and government. This showed that as far as the west is concerned Masoud Barzani is now the most important political leader in the whole of Iraq, and the west has to listen carefully through the opinions of Masoud Barzani in terms of the future of Iraq as a whole not just Kurdistan. We also were very grateful and this was emphasized that the EU was very grateful to the KRG, for all of the help, they get refugees from… refugees like the huge number of Christians, Turkmna’s and shabak’s, they fled to the relative security of Kurdistan during the uncertainties following the American withdrawal in Iraq, but more recently 250000 Syrian refugees that they have found safety in Kurdistan. I went to one the Syrian refugee camps last November outside Erbil to see the amount of work that has been done to help and provide safety for men, women, and children fleeing from the arriving civil war in Syria was really something quite special and the west as whole owes a great deal of gratitude to Masoud Barzan and Kurdistan because the Kurds have always shown themselves to be the people who welcome refugees and provide a safe haven for them. It is very important that the west does not only provide gratitude but also provides financial assistance and resources to Kurdistan. They have known hundreds of thousands of refugees that they come across and should help them. I have been emphasizing that Masoud Barzani said that last week in Brussels and we have to provide as much as assistance as we can.



Gulan: In Brussels president Barzani asked for more support from the European Union, so to what extent can European Union help Kurdistan Region?



Stevenson: One of the tangible ways that we can help is by immediately opening the European External Action Service office in Erbil. We have our ambassador Yana Katasrova in office ran by the British embassy in green zone in Baghdad that is completely unsuitable to cover the Kurdistan area. Kurdsitan is in contrast to the rest of Iraq a very safe area and that is why there has been so much companies investing from Europe, many hundreds of businesses from Europe have been invested in Kurdistan and many thousands of people from Europe now working in Kurdistan and also there are many thousands of Kurdish students coming to the Universities in Europe so there is a clear relationship now there are links between the KRG area and Euorpe and this requires us to have a presence in Erbil. I have previously asked for this. Masoud Barzani emphasized this again in his speech last week and I think this gives a clear and tangible demonstration and support for Kurdistan that we would respond to this and open now an office in Erbil.



Gulan: Consulates of many European Union member countries are available in Erbil, but Eropean union office is not present so do you expect any time soon it would be opened and don’t you think that opening an office will serve mutual interests of the relation between KRG and EU?



Stevenson: we are putting as much pressure as we can on Catherine Ashton Ashton, she is a higher representative for foreign affair telling her this is absolutely inessential, and they must open an office as soon as possible in Erbil so that the linkage between Kurdistan area and Europe can be formally recognized.



Gulan: Kurdistan Region recently has become an apparent region on the world map for the energy resources. Despite being a democratic region in Middle East, it also owns a huge energy resources and currently passing through rebuilding and developing phase... In what extent this creates a strong relation between KRG and EU?



Stevenson: this is clearly an essential element in any future inward investment that we can attract into Kurdistan. I repeatedly emphasized the business leaders in Europe that Kurdistan is a safe and very pleasant area for west they can develop their business interest, not only oil and gas interest but also all business interest should take a look at Kurdistan because an area open to business, safe, and welcoming and this is clearly of great advantage to you and also for business companies in the west. As I was in Kurdistan in November the new oil pipeline to Turkey had just been opened and that is going to be a great share of the amount of oil that it is now exported to Turkey. We need these resources in the west as well so there is a great potential for future growth and oil and gas exports to Europe but we have to ensure that Baghdad respects the constitutional proactive of Kurdistan as you are wanting to guarantee percentage of all oil resources that you have in your territory and my understanding is that many parliamentarians and ministries have told me that the constitutional obligations has not been met and Kurdistan has not realized its given share of the oil and gas resources.



Gulan: there have always been problems between KRG and Baghdad but the roadmap for solutions of these is a constitution in which big majority of Iraqi people have voted for it and it is not clear Iraq is stepping towards becoming a democratic country... To what extent EU is ready to support this?



Stevenson: really we are very worried about deteriorating situation in the rest of Iraq where the rule of law now seems to have been swept under the conflict. The increasing number of executions has got criticism from all over the world; the judicial process seems to be ignored many of these people; they have been executed without having gone through a juridical process to forward the crimes: where were the witnesses, where they properly trailed, they allowed the lawyers to represent them… there seems to be a terrific abuse of cabinet ministries as a way of terrorizing parts of the Iraqi population into submission and it seems that there is an authoritarian government is becoming increasingly dictatorial and seems to be totally sectarian, ignoring human rights and more and more attacking Sunni cities like Rumadi and Faluja, using American weapons to kill man, women, and children in these areas accusing all of them to be terrorist, Da’esh, and Al-Qaeeda which is clearly nonsense. I think this is a very worrying stance and I am very certain and I said it to president Barzani that the Peshmarga will protect Kurdistan from the atrocities and terrorist acts.



Gulan: If Kurdistan announces its independence, to what extent will EU support it?



Stevenson: this is a difficult question because we would rather see peace and stability, respect for human rights, democracy and freedom across the whole of Iraq. I think personally if Kurdistan in the current situation declared itself as an independent nation, I would see the potential conflict with Iran and other neighboring country would be very likely and I do not want to see Kurdistan, which is a very peaceful and beautiful country involve a dreadful war with its neighbors rather see peace and stability across the whole of Iraq and within that context Kurdistan is in a position to provide great leadership and Masoud Barzani is one of the great respected leaders and supportive of the democracy in the whole region.



Gulan: what about EU’s position?



Stevenson: I think EU cannot come out and say yes to something that would be in contrast with the constitution of the people of Iraq and the people of Kurdistan voted for.



I think it is very important that we in Europe recognize the sufferings of Kurdish people under Sadam, recognize the Anfal as a genocide and working towards doing that and having recognized how desperately the people of Kurdistan suffered, and we must respect how much progress they have gained and their respect for human rights, freedom and democracy, that have now emerged and the evidence of that are all of the inward investments, standard of living in Kurdistan, and with peace always comes prosperity. We respect that and we respect the leadership of President Masoud Barzani and Nechirvan Barzani in achieving all of these things.