Barzani calls on PKK to lay down its arms

DİYARBAKIR - Doğan News Agency

The president of the Kurdish Regional Administration Mesut Barzani (L) and independent Kurdish deputy Leyla Zana (R) came together at a conference in Arbil. DHA photo

The president of the Kurdish Regional Administration, Mesut Barzani, has called on the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) to lay down arms and start civil dialogue, while speaking at a conference in Iraq’s northern province of Arbil.

Barzani commented on the awaited “Kurdish National Conference” plan, saying the only condition for the PKK to attend the conference was to become involved in politics and abandon arms, according to the reports from Peyamder, a website known for its close ties with the Kurdish Regional Administration.

“If the PKK shows good faith, stops the war and builds for peace, they can participate in the Kurdish National Conference, in which Kurds will tell the world that they build their policies based on dialog and diplomacy,” Barzani reportedly said.

Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) leader Selahattin Demirtaş also attended the conference, which was organized in remembrance of the first independent Kurdish nation state in history, the Kurdish Republic of Mabahad, which existed between 1946 and 1947.

Demirtaş touched on the problems of Syrian Kurds during his speech, which he gave in the Kurdish language.

“Syrian Kurds need support; all the Kurdish movements should do their bit. The conference is crucial, and it has vital importance for us,” Demirtaş said.

Iraqi VP slams Barzani’s call support

BAGHDAD - The Associated Press

Following Barzani’s call on all Iraqi leaders to sit together to find a way out of Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi’s case, Iraq’s embattled Sunni vice president slammed government charges yesterday that he ran death squads and called on “all honest Iraqi people” to rise up to his defense.

Al-Hashemi’s words came a day after the president of the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG), Masoud Barzani, called on concerned parties to resolve the issues through dialogue.

The government’s charges “are politically motivated,” al-Hashemi said in a speech broadcast from the northern Iraqi city of Arbil, where he has sought haven from arrest in the autonomous Kurdish region. Last week a judicial panel in Baghdad concluded al-Hashemi was behind at least 150 bombings and assassinations since 2005. The conclusions stemmed from a review of a December 2011 arrest warrant accusing al-Hashemi of paying his bodyguards $3,000 to kill security forces and government officials.