By Zhelwan Z. Wali

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Czech Republic President Milos Zeman reportedly said in a local interview Sunday that a Kurdish independent state will eventually be born in the Middle East amid ongoing tensions in the region, according to Russian government owned Sputnik news.

“I believe that sooner or later [Kurdistan] will declare its independence,” Zeman said during an interview on Czech TV Prima, a privately owned company broadcasting from Prague.

Zeman said that in past meetings with Masoud Barzani, president of the Kurdistan region, Barzani had expressed interest in holding a referendum to declare independence.

Also in the interview, the Czech president denounced escalating violence between Turkey and the Kurds.

“There is a saying: the enemy of my enemy is my friend,” the Czech president is quoted by Sputnik as saying. “Turkish hostility towards the Kurds leads to the fact that Turkey is hesitating in its fight against ISIL.”

Zeman praised Kurdish forces for being active in the fight against ISIS: “It is in fact the armed Kurds that are the only [ground] force that is at war with ISIL,” Zeman said, using an alternative acronym for the Islamic State.

Turkey should “decide whom it will join,” he reportedly said.

The Czech Republic’s participation in the fight against ISIS, namely supplying weapons, has been integral since the war broke out in 2014. In December of that year, the Czech government sent 5,000 anti-tank missiles to the Kurdistan region to better arm the Peshmerga.

Rudaw