PUK leader dismisses KDP dialogue appeal
Shafaq News- Al-Sulaymaniyah
Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) leader Bafel Talabani dismissed Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) leader Masoud Barzani’s public appeal for dialogue as “not serious” on Thursday, saying his party would review and respond to a formal meeting request.
Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) leader Bafel Talabani on Thursday dismissed Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) leader Masoud Barzani’s public appeal for dialogue as “not serious,” saying his party would review and respond to a formal meeting request.
In a video statement after attending the Slemani Strategic Forum, Talabani said his side had examined the message at length, though invitations to dialogue and diplomatic messages should not be delivered through the media. Both sides had each other’s telephone numbers and their political bureaus remained in contact, he noted.
Talabani accused the KDP of using the public invitation as a “pretext” for steps it intended to take later, allowing it to claim that it had offered talks but the PUK had failed to respond.
Barzani’s November 9 appeal urged the PUK to meet with the KDP to resolve their differences and end the political crisis in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI), putting the interests of its people above party and political interests. He also called for other political forces to participate in the political process and help form a broad-based national government that would address residents’ demands and aspirations.
The dispute intensified after the Kurdistan Parliament elected its leadership on November 4 with 52 members present. The PUK rejected the session’s legitimacy and decisions, calling it illegal and unilateral and saying it lacked political consensus.
On November 5, Talabani said his party had made extensive efforts to form a new government serving all KRI residents, adding that he had visited Erbil more than 15 times and held discussions with different parties, but the talks had produced no results.
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