Brussels, 04/11/2014 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 4 November, the head of the National Security Council of Kurdistan, Masrour Barzani, called on the international community- including the EU - to bring more military, financial and political support to the Kurds, who are fighting against Islamic State (IS).
“We think the EU's leadership will be crucial”, Barzani told the European Parliament's foreign affairs committee. While welcoming the military support from the US and European countries, he called for “more to be done”. “It's the forces on the ground that will make the difference. The air strikes are useful but they won't bring about an end to the hostilities. There is a pressing need for forces on the ground, so that Islamic State can't use a square centimetre to reorganise, recruit or feel safe”, he said.
Barzani called for cooperation. “You must show within the EU that you are actors who want change. The free world needs to be behind us and to truly bring support to our Peshmerga armed fighters. The EU must work hand in hand with the region of Kurdistan to have a strategy against these terrorists so that you don't have to face them in your capitals”, he said.
Regretting the lack of military support, Barzani called for the supply of heavy weapons and training on how to use them. “When we ask for heavy artillery, armed vehicles, to give firepower, and helicopters to evacuate the wounded, we are talking about all of this armament needed to undo the enemy”, he said. “We can't fight just with small machine guns against fighters who are armed with heavy artillery”, he said. In Barzani's view, there are apparently between 40,000 and 50,000 Kurdish fighters against over 40,000 for IS (18,000 in Iraq and 22,000 in Syria), but their number is reportedly growing by the day.
Barzani also wanted the financial flows and donations to IS to run dry. He believed that IS was earning between $3 million and $6 million per day by selling oil on the black market. He also called for foreign fighters to be combatted. “Pressure must be exerted so that no one can leave [their country] (…) People who come to swell the ranks of IS must be stopped”, he said.
Barzani also called for greater financial support from the international community to deal with the 1.5 million refugees and displaced persons. “We can't manage all these people. We don't have financial support from the Iraqi government for this”, he said, hoping to be able to count on “much more generous support”.
Barzani wants political support for an inclusive government in Iraq. “IS is the result of a more vast political problem”, he said. In his view, the fact that the Iraqi government was not inclusive and that the army is reportedly corrupt pushed people to support those who wanted to hit out at Baghdad. “The political system needs to be repaired”, otherwise similar problems will keep happening.
Elsewhere, Charles Tannock MEP (ECR, UK) announced the launch of an intergroup at the European Parliament - the European Friends of Kurdistan - on Tuesday 4 November. (CG)