Iraqi Kurdistan’s Prime Minister Masrour Barzani has called on Syrian authorities to pursue a “sustainable solution” to the Kurdish issue, after mediating a deal to end clashes that engulfed the country’s north-east in recent weeks.
In an interview with The National in Dubai, Mr Barzani urged Syrian authorities, led by President Ahmad Al Shara, to “lead and not be led” by negative elements, and to integrate Kurdish rights into the constitution.
“We see that there is a diffusion of tension to some extent, but it's not over,” he said. “I hope that every actor plays with wisdom and with calm and with a calm mind … to give themselves enough time to negotiate a more sustainable solution for the problems.
“Syria is not a homogeneous state. There are many different communities and religions that live in Syria. It's important for the sake of stability in the country that Damascus includes all of these communities' concerns and let them feel that they are part of new Syria,” he added.
An agreement to resolve the conflict between Syria’s government and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces started to take shape this week. It would see the gradual integration of the forces and institutions into the state.
Mr Barzani, as well as Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani and regional President Nechirvan Barzani, were at the forefront of mediation efforts between Damascus, the SDF and the US.
“We were in direct contact with both Damascus and also Qamishli and also with the United States, with France, with many countries that were playing a part in mediating and trying to calm the situation,” the Prime Minister said of the flurry diplomacy that has taken place in past weeks. This involved several visits by SDF leader Mazloum Abdi and US envoy Tom Barrack to Erbil, as well as phone calls between Kurdish leaders and Mr Al Shara.
The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), ruled by the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), which Masrour Barzani belongs to, has trod cautiously with the SDF in the past, wary of its links to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), an armed Kurdish separatist group in Turkey that is designated as a terrorist organisation.
The KDP had also maintained ties to other Kurdish political groups in Syria in an attempt to counter the SDF's power. But following the fall of the Assad regime in late 2024, the KRG has begun to engage with the SDF, particularly during the recent violence.
“We are Kurds at the end, we may have differences of opinion or disagree politically with a political party, but when it comes to the Kurds being oppressed anywhere in the world, we have sympathy,” he said of the change in approach.
“When we see that the Kurdish people are being harassed or oppressed or some of the heinous crimes committed against the Kurdish women, I mean, that's unacceptable, not only by the Kurds, but by humanity,” Mr Barzani added.
In Syria, Iraq and other areas of the region, Kurdish political projects have long rested on fragile understandings with stronger states and the shifting calculations of international backers. There are an estimated 30 million to 35 million Kurds across the Middle East, from Turkey and Iran to Iraq and Syria.
“Hopefully, over time, they will realise and come to some sort of agreement that there would be Kurdish rights stipulated in the constitution,” Mr Barzani said of Syria. “It would become a more legal relationship rather than just having verbal agreements,” he added.
However, he warned against “negative elements” that want to “disrupt and want to distract a possible agreement”, urging the Syrian leadership to “come above all of these and [..] lead and not be led”.
The Kurdistan region remains the most institutionalised Kurdish entity in the Middle East, yet its room for political and economic manoeuvre has steadily declined under pressure from Baghdad and neighbouring states.
It has carefully balanced its relations with the federal government, as well as its neighbours, while enjoying close ties with the US.
Balancing act
The Kurdistan region wants “to be an element of stability and connectivity” and “part of the solution and not the problem”, Mr Barzani said of the diplomatic tightrope. “We don’t have relations with one country at the expense of another.”
Erbil hosts US troops and is home to America's largest consulate. It is no stranger to attacks on its soil by Iran and its proxies during times of tension with Washington.
Regional tension has been high this year between Washington and Tehran, with US President Donald Trump threatening to strike Iran. In response, Iran has vowed to retaliate by striking US bases in the region and warning of a “regional war.” Nuclear talks are set to take place in Oman on Friday, raising concerns of an imminent attack if they are to fail.
“We will definitely try to stay out of this conflict. It’s not our war, we are not going to be part of this war,” Mr Barzani said.
The hostility between Iran and the US has repeatedly turned Iraq into an arena, adding another complex layer to the relations between Baghdad and Erbil, with Iraqi governments seen as closer to Tehran and Kurdistan closer to the US.
Domestic challenges
The complications have not always been political. Budget disputes, delays in salary payments to the KRG, and a series of Federal Supreme Court rulings undermining Kurdish oil revenue and autonomy have added to an already strained relationship.
“If the [Iraqi] constitution is fully respected and implemented, we could have the best relations with the government in Baghdad,” Mr Barzani said.
But even within the KRG's political structure, division persists. Parliamentary elections were held in October 2024 in the Kurdistan region, but a government has not yet been formed due to divisions between the KDP and its rival, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK).
Iraq held parliamentary elections in November last year, in which the KDP won more than a million votes, marking the first such result for a Kurdish party. Government formation is delayed by the lack of consensus on a single presidential candidate.
According to an agreement reached after the 2003 US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein, the post of president is reserved for a Kurd, while the parliament speaker must be a Sunni and the prime minister a Shiite. Another informal arrangement among the Kurds has traditionally seen the presidency go to the PUK, while the KDP holds the key positions in the KRG.
However, Mr Barzani argued that “elections should matter” and that “whoever wins the election should have the ability to nominate a candidate”. He suggested putting the matter up for a vote in the Kurdish parliament.
“Let's have the Kurdish members come together and select among the … candidates. One of them … can be presented as a united candidate to the Iraqi parliament. If that's one of the options, the other option is to have the Kurdish members in the Iraqi parliament take the first step to vote on the Kurdish candidates. Whoever comes on top becomes a united candidate for all,” he explained.
Path forward
Despite the disagreements, Mr Barzani has ambitious plans, boasting of the “very aggressive reform programme” under way that includes digitisation and 24-hour electricity for some areas of the region.
Erbil has also turned to its Gulf partners, particularly the UAE, to pursue opportunities that support its economic diversification plans. In Dubai, Mr Barzani met President Sheikh Mohamed and other high-level Emirati officials on the sidelines of the World Governments Summit forum.
He said UAE companies were already active in energy, agriculture and tourism, while others had been invited to explore the opportunities in the region. “We are hoping that this is going to lead to even more enhanced and developed economic relations between the two sides,” he elaborated.
“Over the last few decades, it [Kurdistan] has proven itself to be the oasis of stability in a very turbulent region … This is very important for the stability of the region, and the Gulf countries are looking for stable regions.”
