People Becoming Victims of Political Conflicts
Brwa Pirot Mohammed
The political history of the region has demonstrated that party rule and complicated decision-making have often been linked to internal conflicts and the transfer of personal disputes into the public arena. The events in the city of Sulaymaniyah and the confrontation between the former co-presidents of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan are a prominent example of this equation, in which a struggle over power, finances, and the organisation of armed forces was transformed from a political dispute into a situation of security tension.
Politicians in Power and Internal Conflict
They have an unbroken historical alliance that has always continued at the expense of the blood and livelihoods of the public. What happened in Sulaymaniyah and during the events at the Lalezar Hotel was not merely an ordinary dispute between two cousins or an internal party conflict; rather, it was a clear example of the use of wealth and resources, weapons, and state forces to settle personal and family interests. This political authority, instead of using the security forces to protect the homeland and uphold the rule of law, has turned them into instruments of repression and internal retaliation.
When Bafel Talabani, accompanied by a large military force, attacks the meeting place and residence of Lahur Sheikh Jangi, he places the legitimacy of his own authority under serious question. This incident demonstrated that, in the eyes of the political leadership, the security and property of citizens have no value when they conflict with their economic and military privileges. Instead of resolving political disputes through dialogue and legal institutions, the leaders resort to the use of military force in the heart of the city, without considering how much fear and intimidation they spread among civilians or how much damage they cause to the economic and social infrastructure.
Most painful and dramatic of all is the fate of those young men and soldiers who, because of unemployment and the need to provide their families with their daily livelihood, were forced to take up arms. The authorities of the Kurdistan Region have brought the region’s economy to such a state of collapse that young people have been left with no opportunities in life other than becoming armed men and hired fighters. Then those same young people are made victims of conflicts over positions and the distribution of gains.
An authority that preserves positions and privileges at the expense of the blood of its own people, and brings internal warfare onto the streets in broad daylight, has lost its moral and political legitimacy. Such events send a clear message to the public: as long as governance is based on family interests and narrow interests, security and stability will remain nothing more than empty slogans.
Author Profile
- Harki is an independent investigative journalist and human rights advocate. As a member of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ), he focuses on exposing corruption and human rights abuses in Kurdistan and Iraq. He voluntarily contributes to Kurdfile Media.
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