ERBIL, Iraqi Kurdistan--Walid Jumblatt, the political leader of Lebanon’s Druze community, was the first Lebanese politician to visit the Kurdistan Region of Iraq when he met with Kurdistan Region President Massoud Barzani in Erbil last week. Jumblatt maintains his ancestors were Kurdish and moved to Lebanon from Turkey’s Kurdish region, but that he now considers himself a Lebanese Arab.

Jumblatt visited the leaders of Kurdistan’s Yazidi community. Yazidi is a secretive, pre-Islamic faith that is believed to share some ancestry with the Druze.

Jumblatt heads the Progressive Socialist Party in Lebanon, which is now part of Najib Miqati’s Hezbollah-dominated government. After his father Kamal Jumblatt was assassinated in 1977, Jumblatt became the most prominent leader of the Lebanese minority group.

Rudaw met with Jumblatt in Erbil and conducted this interview.

Rudaw: This is the first time that you’ve visited Kurdistan. Is anything here like what your father told you as he saw it during his visit in 1970s?

Walid Jumblatt: When my father visited Baghdad in 1973, despite objections from Iraqi authorities, he insisted on meeting (Kurdish nationalist leader) Mullah Mustafa Barzani. Kamal Jumblatt believed in the right of the Kurds to self-determination and their cultural, political and economic rights. That was Jumblatt’s belief. Kamal Jumblatt was also proud of the Kurdish roots of the Jumblatt family. But later, the signing of the dark Algiers agreement in 1975 created a catastrophe for Kurds. Now Kurds have reached the minimum level of their cultural, political and economic rights within Iraq and that is very important.

Rudaw: As someone of Kurdish origin, how do you feel about seeing Kurdistan for the first time?
Walid Jumblatt: I see a progressing and safe country here; progress in all areas. The most important thing is to have an agreement among Iraqis, among Kurds and Arabs to have a federal and united Iraq. Some Arabs also need to get rid of the mentality that there is no Kurdish issue. There are Kurds in Iraq and I think their Kurdistan Region has been successful. So why don’t others follow suit and do the same in Anbar, Basra and other areas within a united Iraq as the constitution allows?

Rudaw: You met with Massoud Barzani, the president of the Kurdistan Region. What did you discuss with him?

Walid Jumblatt: I’ve met Mr. Massoud Barzani several other times in Syria, in Beirut and once in Tehran as well. In our meeting we talked about the fate of the region, which is going through major changes. The most important thing is that disputes are settled through understanding and dialogue and not through weapons. Arabs need to respect Kurds’ rights as well. Regarding Lebanon, I stressed the need for dialogue there as well. We also talked about the situation in Syria in detail because Syria’s stability and security is very important for Lebanon, Iraq and the Arab region. There needs to be fundamental reform in Syria. The bloody situation there cannot continue because it will only lead to more bloodshed.

Rudaw: Did the Syrian authorities give you any messages to deliver to Barzani?

Walid Jumblatt: No, I wasn’t asked to do so by any group in Syria. Before coming to Kurdistan, I stated that the security solution in Syria wouldn’t bring about anything except further devastation. I also called on the Druze in Syria to avoid becoming part of the repressions against the Syrian people, because the Druze have been part of Syria and we don’t want them to be punished later for cooperating with Shabihas (the government’s plain-clothed militias) against their brothers in Hama, Homs and Dara’a. The Arab initiative needs to be used as the basis for a solution in Syria as soon as possible.

Rudaw: The situation in Syria is very tense. What do you think is the fate of the Assad regime?

Walid Jumblatt: The Assad regime can’t continue with the way it’s doing things now, which is through the security forces. It needs to accept a political solution as soon as possible and that needs to go through several stages. The transitional stage where the Arab initiative will be used as the basis calls for the withdrawal of the army from the cities. All detainees need to be released… A pluralistic system needs to be enforced and the eighth article of the Syrian constitution, which gives the Baath Party the right to run the country, needs to be removed. The Baath Party should not be the only party in charge, but it can be one of the several parties. A multiparty system and free elections need to take place in Syria and these are all included in the Arab initiative.

Rudaw: Many observers say once there has been so much bloodshed in a country the regime can only be overthrown by blood. Do you anticipate a bloody end for Assad?

Walid Jumblatt: I don’t want to go into details here. There needs to be a political solution because the Syrian society has many groups. There needs to be a solution for the many diverse religions and sects in that country as well. The Syrian regime needs to accept pluralism in order to rescue Syria from the tunnel it’s stuck in right now; otherwise, it could lead to a sectarian conflict.

Rudaw: But the Syrian opposition, which is based outside the country, says the time for dialogue with the Assad regime is over.

Walid Jumblatt: No, each party has its own stance but there needs be to be a fundamental solution to stop the bloodshed and oppression, to withdraw the army from the cities and punish the security and Shabiha forces in order to reach a political solution. I can’t speak for the Syrian opposition but in the end there must be a quick change of power.

Rudaw: Kurds in the Syrian National Council have called for the right to self-determination for Kurds. Given your connections with the Syrian Kurdish community, what are your thoughts on this?

Walid Jumblatt: Kurds in each country have their own issues. In my opinion, in Syria Kurds need to be granted their cultural and economic rights. They also need to be compensated for their properties which were confiscated in 1963 in the name of the Arab belt. Kurds also should be granted political representation within a united Syria.

Rudaw: The “Arab Spring” has turned into the “Islamic Spring” as Islamist forces have taken power in the countries where the revolutions occurred. Aren’t you afraid of that as the head of Druze minority in an Arab country like Lebanon?

Walid Jumblatt: No, I have no fears about that. Islamist movements have been suppressed for decades by tyrants such as Mubarak and Ben Ali. Their members have been tortured and jailed… Most of the Arab world is Muslim and so if Islamist movements came to power through elections and could resolve social and economic problems in a democratic manner, then why not? But the Islamist movements must safeguard the rights of the religious, ethnic and political minorities as well.

Rudaw: You’ve been in politics for years and know some of those groups. Do you expect those Islamist movements to respect minorities?

Walid Jumblatt: I’m not afraid of them. Of course, I have fears about the extremism of some Salafi movements because they caused a lot of violence and bloodshed in countries such as Iraq. What can be a cause of concern is the spread of a primitive and meaningless Salafi mentality. But, for example, in countries such as Tunisia and Turkey, there are civilized Islamist movements and that will happen in Egypt too. So that doesn’t scare us. But in Egypt the cultural rights of Coptic Christians should be recognized and extremism should not expand.

Rudaw: When I first met you two years ago in Beirut, you said you would talk about Kurdish representation in the Lebanese Parliament and about giving citizenship to Kurds living there. Have you done that?

Walid Jumblatt: Believe me, things have been happening quite fast. But Kurds should have representation in the Lebanese Parliament anyway just as other minorities such as Armenians, Evangelists and Latins have representation. There needs to be a specific mechanism for Kurds to have representation in the Parliament. Kurds are now overlooked and neglected in administration and Parliament and so Lebanese leaders need to consider that seriously.

Rudaw: Can the Kurdistan Region help make space for Kurds in the Lebanese Parliament and government?

Walid Jumblatt: I think we can do it ourselves, but if we saw that there was a need for help from the Kurdistan Region, why not? However, the issue of Kurdish representation needs to be seriously discussed in Lebanon.