Qubad Talabani at Delphi: We Want to Open Kurdistan Up to the Rest of the World

Deputy PM's Media Office

Qubad Talabani, Deputy Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Region, speaking at Delphi Economic Forum in Greece, 24 April 2025.

Qubad Talabani, Deputy Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government, addressed the Delphi Economic Forum, highlighting Kurdistan’s evolving political and economic role as well as its regional aspirations for development and peace, stating that they want to open Kurdistan to the wider world not only through politics but also through serious discussions on development, the regional economy, and the historical and contemporary contributions of the Kurdish people, while encouraging a move beyond entrenched stereotypes.

Opening his remarks, Talabani expressed appreciation to the organisers and recalled the Delphi Economic Forum Sulaymaniyah, saying: “I wanted to thank everybody involved with Delphi for hosting the first ever Delphi Economic Forum in Sulaymaniyah. It was a great success. We had many speakers attend and we look forward to hosting the second one in June.”

Confirming the upcoming edition in Sulaymaniyah, he added: “So this is a plug for the Delfi Economic Forum in Sulaymaniyah 2. We look forward to having you and hosting you there. And there we can also talk more about who the Kurds are.”

Reflecting on Kurdish identity and regional geography, he said: “Right now we are in the epicenter of many issues. As Iraqi Kurds, we are stationed between Iran, Türkiye, Syria and the rest of Iraq which is as you're all following the news been quite active lately.”

Rejecting long-held stereotypes, Talabani stressed: “We do get labeled tough fighters and we have put up a good fight over the last several decades but we are more than just the fighters.”

He explained that the Kurdish leadership is pursuing broader engagement: “We are engaging on strategic levels, politically, economically, through diplomacy channels, through back channels, on many fronts, but all towards one objective, stability, prosperity, development, moving away from war and conflict and instability and tension.”

However, he acknowledged regional constraints, noting: “We're trying, but geography isn't helping us on this mission.”

On regional conflicts and their impact, Talabani said: “The war has affected us significantly being so close to us and being between two entities that we have deep ties and relations with, it has affected us economically. It has affected us from a security perspective, but is also affecting us psychologically as a people, who are part of a country that has lived through many, many wars.”

Despite this, he emphasised diplomatic engagement: “We are not just sitting idly by. We're doing whatever we can to ensure that the dialogue continues between the United States and Iran and that we welcome this ceasefire.”

He expressed hope for long-term peace, stating: “We're hopeful that this ceasefire will create the climate and the space necessary for there to be a lasting deal that will finally bring peace and prosperity to us.”

Reaffirming Kurdistan’s neutrality in regional conflicts, he said: “We have said from day one, we are not part of this war. We do not want to be part of this war and we will not become part of this war.”

He added: “We will do everything we can to protect our citizens, to protect Kurdistan, to protect the stability of the Kurdistan Region, and what we have built over many many years.”

Positioning Kurdistan as a mediator, he stated: “We are willing to be a bridge not a battlefield and we have deconflicted on many instances over the past 2 months and will continue to play a positive role to that effect.”

Turning to broader regional Kurdish dynamics, Talabani highlighted developments in Türkiye and Syria, saying: “Look, this the landscape in the Middle East is shifting. It's constantly shifting. But one thing is constant. There are a group of people called the courts. We're in Iran. We're in Türkiye. We're in Syria. And we are in Iraq. There is a peace process ongoing now in Türkiye by the government of Türkiye. The opposition parties in Türkiye, the parliament in Türkiye, and majority of the political factions are supporting a process which has ended a 40-year war between Türkiye and the PKK.”

He described this as a positive shift: “This is a positive development. We support this development and will work to make sure this is delivered.”

On Syria, he said: “We would like to see the Kurds of Syria integrated fully into the society, into the government, into the economy, into the security services of Syria.”

He stressed their role in regional security: “The Kurds of Syria have been at the forefront of the fight against terrorism. They've fought side by side with the United States and other international partners in fighting ISIS.”

Talabani said their contribution should be recognised politically: “And the reward for that bravery should not be isolation and should not be exclusion from the state. On the contrary, the reward for that state for that role should be having a leading role and a seat at the decision-m table in Damascus.”

Reflecting on Kurdish progress over decades, he said: “I think when you looked at if you looked at the Kurds 30 years ago, we were a victimised community and then maybe others may have defined us as a problem, as a nuisance. But today we're none of those. We've moved beyond the sense of victimisation of the past. We are focusing on economic development.”

He added: “We're focusing on being a bridge, supporting a peace process between Türkiye and the PKK, supporting the integration of Kurds of Syria into the new Syrian Republic. I would like to say that we were helpful in preventing the Kurds of Iran from being significantly hurt in this conflict with between the United States and Iran.”

He also highlighted the Kurds’ role in Iraq and said: “And at the same time, we're playing a pivotal role in standing up the new government in Iraq. A government that will respect its constitution, adhere to the principles of federalism, and ensure the policies of the country, serve all of the people of the country, but also puts Iraq on the right footing, which I think it can be.”

Addressing the economy, he noted oil dependency: “Oil is essential for Iraq's economy which is why when the Straits of Hormuz is closed the economy of Iraq is severely damaged as well as Kurdistan's. While we would all love to get away from oil, we keep talking about it, get away from oil, the reality is we're not getting away from oil.”

However, he outlined diversification plans: “But what we want to do is use oil as a source of revenue to support other sectors, agriculture, tourism, agro-industries, agro-tourism, many other uh industrial areas where it has huge potential for growth.”

On Kurdistan’s gas resources, he said: “Kurdistan is gas-rich and Sulaymaniyah is very gas-rich.”

He described a long-term energy strategy: “For us, the strategy here is to power our local economy, power our electricity sector, power our industrial growth. And our strategy has been from day one transferring gas to wire. We think we have enough, we know we have enough gas to become a net exporter of power whether it's to serve the deficiencies in the rest of the country or the region that we are living in. This is our strategy and we are working steadfast to implement that. It's complicated but simple. The complication is we're a subs sovereign within a country which is constantly in transition. But the strategy is simple.”

On moving away from energy and utilising other resources, such as agriculture and trade, he said: “We have the most fertile land in the region which makes us very conducive for agricultural development, for agricultural growth, for development of agro-industries, not just to serve Kurdistan, but to serve the whole country, not just to serve Iraq, but to actually be an exporter of food stuffs, of vegetables, of fruits. ”

He added: “Greece is very famous for its olives. Our olives are pretty good, too. Maybe not as good as Greece's, but they're pretty good, too. But our pomegranates are very good. Our honey is very good. Our walnuts very good. We have many products, figs, many products that we have been lucky to taste in Kurdistan that with the right kind of investment, with the right kind of strategy, the right kind of partnerships like the ones we're building here in Greece, Kurdish products could be making the international markets very soon.”

Looking ahead, Talabani said Kurdistan is entering a new phase: “So since 2003 since um the liberation of Iraq and we still call it the liberation of Iraq because for us we were victims of Saddam's brutality. Since then, we have been building our economy. We have been building our infrastructure. But now we're entering we're entering a new era. We feel for the first time in a long time that we have a strategy. We know where we want to go.”

He stressed partnerships as key: “We know how we want to do this. It's just about the partnerships now. It's about building the right kind of partnerships, breaking out from the internal Kurdish dimension, building partnerships with countries like Greece, with other European countries, with the United States, and with regional powers to reach our potential. And I think now we're at a point where our public expects more from us because for years, we've been talking about potential. We can't just be a potential. We have to be the real deal. And that just requires moving beyond the rhetoric and actually getting things done.”

On governance and reform, he added: “We focused a lot on um entrepreneurship on innovation on supporting youth on introducing AI into our governance in in training a new cadre of youth on development. But really touching back on your previous question, we've spent so much of our time building up the major cities of Kurdistan, Erbil, Duhok, Sulaymaniyah.”

He also highlighted how the Kurdistan Region is looking to develop rural areas, stating: “We're now looking at rural development. How can we go beyond the big cities? You've been to Sulaymaniyah, you've been to Erbil, you should go to Duhok as well. I know many in the audience have been. And you've seen we've seen the development in the big cities but now we want to move beyond the big cities. We want to move to the districts to the sub-districts because I think that's where the key to unlocking Kurdistan's real potential is that's where the agricultural land is.”

He added: “That's where the industrial growth can happen. That's where a population which has not had access to maybe the latest technologies or the latest educational methods with the right kind of inputs could really exponentially grow Kurdistan's economy and then that economy is not isolated. You know we are not on an island. Sometimes we wish we were, but the fact that we're not on an island means we have to make use of the relationships we have on the countries that are bordering us.”

He also underlined that the Kurdistan Region can fill the gaps existing in the region, stating: “We have a competitive advantage in certain areas. We may be able to fill the gaps that may exist in Iran, that may exist in Türkiye, that may exist in Syria, that certainly exist in the rest of the country. And that's how we're positioning ourselves. We don't want to be a problem. We're not a threat to anyone's sovereignty. We're not a threat to anyone's territorial integrity. We're not a threat to anyone's um security. We're an asset and I think personally I would say an asset that is underutilised.”

Speaking about the Middle East and the world perceives it, Talabani said: “You've had so many conversations about the war in Iran at this very forum and with all due respect to many of the speakers that have spoken about it, but very few know Iran better than we do. Right? And I think this is an opportunity for countries around the world that that are interested in the Middle East. Come talk to us. Don't talk about us. I hear a lot of times being spoken about sometimes positively, which is nice, sometimes not so positively, which is normal. But come and talk to us because we can tell you what the Middle East is really like, what the Middle East has become. It is not the Middle East of the 70s and the 80s. It is a very different dynamic and after this war it will look even more different than it did a year ago. And we're here. We're free to talk to and we're ready to talk to anyone who's interested.”

Talabani also called on Greece to play a role in the peace process and supporting a deal between the United States and Iran, stating: “I would say I think there's a two-way street here. I think we can benefit each other and support each other. I know that Greece through its very dynamic government is interested in engaging beyond its borders. Sometimes being part of this giant entity called Europe can be slow, can be um obstructive. But I know that the government in Greece is interested in engaging more, playing a more productive role, potentially supporting this peace process, potentially supporting a deal between the United States and Iran.”

Underlining Greece's development and how the Kurdistan Region can benefit from it, Talabani said: “There's a lot that we can learn from Greece's development. How Greece has been able to manage its economic crisis, how it was able to come out of the ruins of its crisis and where it is today economically is phenomenal. It's something Greeks should be proud of. We're certainly looking at it as a model of success. What Greece is doing in its digital transformation. I've met with your minister of um the digital governance and AI. I've met with the Minister of Health and other ministries who all are showing pride in their use of technology and their digitisation to improve services to improve transparency.”


He added: “We're doing this too in Kurdistan by the way. Maybe not as fast as Greece has been able to, but we are in the process of digitising our government services, making services more transparent, making them less bureaucratic. So, I think we can learn from your model. You can utilise our assets in the region, our ability to speak to east and to west. And I think there's a lot economically that could improve, especially now that Aegean is flying to the Kurdistan Region. We're hoping for more flights. More flights mean more tourists. More tourists possibly mean more investors, which means stronger partnerships and stronger friendships.”

Speaking about holding Delphi Forum in Sulaymaniyah for the second time, Talabani said: “Yes, I think it's the we have many of these forums in Kurdistan but this was the first time that there was an international forum in the Kurdistan region that has a name, a reputation, reputable name associated with it. I think it was a great success. I'm hoping and expecting the next one to be a bigger success.”

He concluded by stating: “So we want to open Kurdistan up to the rest of the world, not just through politics, but to have serious discussions about regional development, about regional economy, about the contributions of Kurds historically and today, and vice versa, getting people to go beyond this stereotype of the courts, you know.”



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