ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Following last week’s independence referendum in Scotland, Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani said that the people of Kurdistan have the same rights and Baghdad should hear their voice and ambitions.

There are many lessons to be learned from Scotland’s referendum process, Barzani said in an interview on his government’s official website.

“The best coexistence between the people of any country is a voluntary coexistence,” he said.

The Kurdish prime minister said that Britain faced a serious threat to its union, but that London still gave the people of Scotland the democratic opportunity to make their choice.

“That was an example of a democratic and peaceful process, away from the kind of violence or war that some countries resort to when dealing with national questions,” he said.

There are similarities between Scotland and the Kurdistan Region, where the Kurds have remained a part of Iraq through a federal system that the Kurds agreed to voluntarily, he added.

“We want to be sure that our constitutional rights do not become hostage to some politicians in Baghdad,” the premier said. “We need to feel we are part of a country that respects our needs, ambitions and hopes.”

Kurdish ministers joined Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi’s government earlier this month. The Kurds currently have 52 seats in the Iraqi parliament, agreeing to remain a part of Iraq on the basis of a constitution approved by the Iraqi people in a 2005 referendum.

Barzani said that British Prime Minister David Cameron’s promise to grant the Scottish people greater rights could be a good message for Iraqi leaders dealing with the Kurdistan Region.

“I hope to hear a similar message from Iraqi politicians,” said Barzani. “They could say to the Kurds that they hear us out and that they cannot keep us as a disappointed partner in this country forever.”

Rudaw