Plundering the Revenues of the Kurdistan Region by the Authorities of the KDP and PUK
Hezhyar Ali Saleh – Activist
The Kurdistan Region, which was supposed to become a model of prosperity and development, has instead, under the rule of two clan based parties, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) turned into a field of plunder and corruption. These two parties, ruling in the name of Kurdish nationalism, have monopolized oil revenues, customs income, and natural resources to enrich their families and close circles, while the people of the region suffer from poverty, unemployment, and the lack of basic public services.
The Barzani family, by controlling the oil sector and border crossings such as Ibrahim Khalil, has squandered billions of dollars in an opaque manner. International investigations have revealed that members of this family own expensive properties in the United States and other countries worth tens and even hundreds of millions of dollars, and that offshore companies have been used to conceal these illicit assets. This comes at a time when public employees’ salaries are repeatedly delayed and infrastructure projects remain stalled.
On the other hand, the Talabani family and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, within their own sphere of authority the “Green Zone”, have similarly monopolized the revenues of the Bashmakh and Parwezkhan border crossings. A large portion of this income goes to party elites and personal interests rather than serving the public. Oil and goods smuggling through these crossings has become a major source of income for certain PUK officials, causing significant damage to the region’s economy.
This systematic corruption, which has eroded public trust in the authorities, has turned the lives of citizens in the Kurdistan Region into a hardship. Young people are increasingly forced to migrate, and public services are in severe decline. The time has come to put an end to this corrupt system and return the region’s revenues to serving the people, not the pockets of a few families.
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