President Bafel: A prosperous and unified Iraq is what we seek

PUK President's media office

President Bafel Jalal Talabani at Erbil's Annual Forum

Today, Thursday, President of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) Bafel Jalal Talabani participated in the second Annual Erbil Forum.

Regarding the relations between the PUK and Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), President Bafel Jalal Talabani said, "The differences between the PUK and the KDP are over very minor issues, and if we wanted, we could resolve these differences in five minutes." "The PUK does not like this circumstance since the nation will suffer, but we must not let little things ruin our situation."

"We are taking all the initiatives and saying, come one step ahead; we are taking ten steps forward," he said. "Our door is open for dialogue to resolve the issues." "We have taken the initiative for the elections." "We want the elections to take place, and we are ready for them, but if the elections are like this and due to some actions taken by some KDP friends, it may cause a delay in the elections."

In response to a question about Deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani's absence from Council of Ministers meetings, President Bafel stated, "Qubad Talabani has made many sacrifices for this government and stood against his party, but no one has even contacted him and asked why he was not attending Council of Ministers sessions."

"We have a few political concerns as well as problems with people's lack of services, and we must not allow them to continue in this manner," he said. "Let us deal with the difficulties immediately rather than postponing them till tomorrow." "Our area is where the majority of the issues are." "Sulaymaniyah is still in its place while Erbil is launching people into space."

"We must solve our issues because foreigners are saying that we are regressing and that they are tired of intervening and resolving our issues." "Yet, the PUK has never had better relations with neighboring countries than we do now, and the KDP also has good relations with neighboring countries."

"A prosperous and unified Iraq is what we seek." "If Iraq is successful, so will we be," he stated. "Baghdad is willing to reach an agreement with us." "From Baghdad, we can serve the citizens of Kurdistan." "At every discussion in Baghdad, we have brought up Kirkuk, and we are not willing to compromise on it."



PUKMEDIA