Kurdistan Democratic Party Says No Longer Boycotting Iraqi Kurdistan Elections

Iraqi Kurdistan Region President Nechervan Barzani (R), Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani (C) and Kurdistan Democratic Party leader Masoud Barzani. (AFP file photo)
Iraqi Kurdistan Region President Nechervan Barzani (R), Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani (C) and Kurdistan Democratic Party leader Masoud Barzani. (AFP file photo)
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Kurdistan Democratic Party Says No Longer Boycotting Iraqi Kurdistan Elections

Iraqi Kurdistan Region President Nechervan Barzani (R), Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani (C) and Kurdistan Democratic Party leader Masoud Barzani. (AFP file photo)
Iraqi Kurdistan Region President Nechervan Barzani (R), Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani (C) and Kurdistan Democratic Party leader Masoud Barzani. (AFP file photo)

The Kurdistan Democratic Party, headed by Masoud Barzani, announced that it was no longer going to boycott the Iraqi Kurdistan Region parliamentary elections.

The boycott was prompted by objections to the mechanisms related to how to hold the elections.

A KDP official said the party would be taking part in the polls given the changes that have been introduced to the mechanism.

The elections were set for June 10.

The KDP announced the boycott in protest against the Federal Supreme Court of Iraq’s ruling related to the elections, such as eliminating the quota allotted to minorities in the Kurdistan parliament.

The court has since gone back on the ruling.

KDP MP Ekhlas al-Dulaimy told Asharq Al-Awsat that the boycott was sparked by the court rulings and now that some changes have been made, the party will participate in the elections.

She revealed that Kurdistan Region President Nechervan Barzani will issue within two days a decree to set a new date for the elections.

She stressed that the KDP was never against holding the elections or their timing. It had twice called for holding them, however, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan had demanded that they be postponed.

Nechervan Barzani had visited Baghdad following what was described as a successful visit to Iran last month.

In Baghdad, he attended meetings for the State Administration Coalition that backs the government of Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani.

Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani visited Baghdad last week where he met the majority of political and partisan leaderships. He also held talks with Iraqi President Abdul Latif al-Rashid, Sudani and acting parliament Speaker Mohsen al-Mandalawi.



Turkish Foreign Minister Says No Room for Kurdish Militants in Syria's Future

A handout photo made available by the Turkish Foreign Ministry Press Office shows Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan (L) and Syria's opposition leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (R), also known as Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, shaking hands during their meeting in Damascus, Syria, 22 December 2024.  EPA/TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTRY PRESS OFFICE
A handout photo made available by the Turkish Foreign Ministry Press Office shows Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan (L) and Syria's opposition leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (R), also known as Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, shaking hands during their meeting in Damascus, Syria, 22 December 2024. EPA/TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTRY PRESS OFFICE
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Turkish Foreign Minister Says No Room for Kurdish Militants in Syria's Future

A handout photo made available by the Turkish Foreign Ministry Press Office shows Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan (L) and Syria's opposition leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (R), also known as Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, shaking hands during their meeting in Damascus, Syria, 22 December 2024.  EPA/TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTRY PRESS OFFICE
A handout photo made available by the Turkish Foreign Ministry Press Office shows Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan (L) and Syria's opposition leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (R), also known as Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, shaking hands during their meeting in Damascus, Syria, 22 December 2024. EPA/TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTRY PRESS OFFICE

Türkiye’s foreign minister said after meeting Syria's de facto leader in Damascus on Sunday that there was no room for Kurdish militants in Syria's future, calling for the YPG militia to disband.
Türkiye regards the YPG as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants who have fought an insurgency against the Turkish state for 40 years and are deemed terrorists by Ankara, Washington and the European Union.
Sunday's visit to Damascus by Hakan Fidan, the first foreign minister to visit Damascus since Bashar al-Assad's overthrow two weeks ago, came amid hostilities in northeast Syria between Turkish-backed Syrian fighters and the YPG, which spearheads the US-allied Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the northeast.
Speaking alongside Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, Fidan said he had discussed the YPG presence with the new Syrian administration and believed Damascus would take steps to ensure Syria's territorial integrity and sovereignty.
"In the coming period, the YPG must come to a point where it is no longer a threat to Syria's national unity," Fidan said, adding the YPG should disband.
The SDF played a key role defeating ISIS militants in 2014-2017 with US air support, and still guards ISIS fighters in prison camps. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned that the group would try to re-establish capabilities in this period.
Fidan said the international community was "turning a blind eye" to the "illegality" of the SDF and YPG's actions in Syria, but added that he believed US President-elect Donald Trump would take a different approach.
He said the new Syrian administration had told him during their talks that they could manage the ISIS prison camps, if needed.
In a Reuters interview on Thursday, SDF commander Mazloum Abdi acknowledged the presence of PKK fighters in Syria for the first time, saying they had helped battle ISIS and would return home if a total ceasefire was agreed with Türkiye. He denied any organizational ties with the PKK.
The SDF has been on the back foot since Assad's fall, with the threat of advances from Ankara and Türkiye-backed groups as it looks to preserve political gains made in the last 13 years, and with Syria's new rulers being friendly to Ankara.
Earlier, Türkiye's defense minister said Ankara believed Syria's new leadership, including the Syrian National Army (SNA) armed group which Ankara backs, will drive YPG fighters from all of the territory they occupy in the northeast.
Ankara, alongside Syrian allies, has mounted several cross-border offensives against the Kurdish faction in northern Syria and controls swathes of Syrian territory along the border, while repeatedly demanding that its NATO ally Washington halt support for the Kurdish fighters.
Ankara had for years backed opposition groups looking to oust Assad and welcomed the end of his family's brutal five-decade rule after a 13-year civil war. Türkiye also hosts millions of Syrian migrants it hopes will start returning home after Assad's fall, and has vowed to help rebuild Syria.
Fidan said all international sanctions imposed against Assad must be lifted as soon as possible to help Syria start rebuilding, offering Ankara's assistance on matters such as infrastructure development.
Sharaa told Sunday's press conference his administration would announce the new structure of the defense ministry and military within days.