The President is Engaged in Arms Procurement!
Opinion | Diyar Harki – Founder of KurdFile
Two foreign YouTubers, seeking antique weaponry, travelled to Sulaymaniyah and Baghdad — and Bafel Talabani, President of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), personally accompanied them on both shopping excursions.
This is not a minor incident. This is a sitting Kurdish party leader visibly engaging in arms procurement, normalizing black-market weapons trading, and granting political cover to the proliferation of firearms. It is open contempt for the law. It is mockery of public security. It exposes the true political culture behind the speeches and slogans.
Every day in Kurdistan, illicit weapons are used in killings, assassinations, tribal disputes, and personal conflicts. The gun remains the final judge in social disagreements. Instead of dismantling this dangerous culture, the political elite are seen reinforcing it — enriching it, emboldening it, and legitimizing it.
When leadership glamorizes weapons rather than strengthening institutions, it sends a clear message: power comes from the barrel, not the ballot. And that message deepens instability across the Kurdistan Region.
This is not symbolism. It is a reflection of governance.
Author Profile
- Diyar 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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