Islamic Union Leader: In Aspiration For Statehood Kurds Must Be Ready For Everything
Mohammad Rauf, said that, despite his party’s Islamic ideology it shares nothing with the Islamic State (IS/ISIS) extremists now fighting Kurdish Peshmerga forces.
Islamic Union Leader: In Aspiration for Statehood Kurds Must be ready for Everything
Mohammad Rauf, head of the Kurdistan Islamic Union’s (Yekgirtu) leadership council and a prominent political leader, said in an interview that, despite his party’s Islamic ideology it shares nothing with the Islamic State (IS/ISIS) extremists now fighting Kurdish Peshmerga forces. “ISIS is using Islam to get attention and to cheat people,” he warned, adding that the Kurds are a juncture where they should be ready for everything. “We have a political dream and agenda, which is the creation of a state and a roadmap to achieve the goal. Therefore, we must expect everything,” he told Rudaw.
Rauf welcomed the US support to Peshmerga forces in the battlefronts, claiming this kind of support by Washington was unprecedented in history. “Every single Kurd should consider the US support as an important message and we should work on it for our future,” he said. Here is an edited transcript of his interview:
Rudaw
: How do you assess recent events in the Kurdistan Region?
Mohammad Rauf
: Wherever the threat of terrorism exists, anything is expected. If the Kurdish political parties and the Kurdish people did not expect any aggression from Iraq, it was because we were not part of any sectarian strife and we have not attacked anyone. On the contrary, we have established a safe region, which has become a safe haven for the troubles, particularly Sunnis.
The recent anger among Kurdish youngsters is because we were expecting to receive appreciation for sheltering the internally displaced Arabs. Whether the force behind the current attacks on Kurdistan is internal or external, we consider what is happening as an attempt to destroy the Kurdistan Regional Government.
Rudaw
: The IS uses “caliphate” as a slogan to revitalize the Islamic state. As a moderate Islamic party, what do you see it?
Mohammad Rauf
: This topic needs to be comprehensively discussed and it needs more time so that the Kurdish people understand the meaning of caliphate. Caliphate is an old terminology and it does not necessarily have to be revitalized. During the time of the Ottoman Empire and before the rule of Sultan Abdulhameed II, the Ottomans failed in administering their Muslim nations properly. What IS is talking about is very different, because “caliphate” is an administrative and political terminology and has nothing to do with the Quran, Hadith (Islamic traditions), and Sharia (Islamic laws). A caliphate does not necessarily have to be implemented by those who have power. IS wants to use Islam to convince people that they are creating an Islamic state. What they are doing has nothing to do with Islam. IS is using Islam to get attention and to cheat people.
Rudaw
: How do you see IS?
Mohammad Rauf
: Since IS does not have a clear identity, in simple terms it can be defined as an extremist terrorist force.
Rudaw
: What prompted IS to change the direction of its attacks from Baghdad to Erbil?
Mohammad Rauf
: The political leadership and intellectual institutions should carefully study the factors that caused that change. Why did they attack Kurdistan so abruptly? All of these need thorough analysis, because these attacks might happen again in a near or distant future. We have a political dream and agenda, which is the creation of a state and a roadmap to achieve the goal. Therefore, we must expect everything.
Rudaw
: Do you think that the change in focus from Baghdad to Erbil had anything to do with Kurdistan’s pursuit of independence?
Mohammad Rauf
: Some say it was related to the issue of separation from Iraq and the referendum. Some say it was related to the sale of oil by the Kurdistan Region and some others believe that the Iraqi Sunnis attacked Kurdistan to ignite another war in Iraq. There are lots of analyses, but the people are seeking a true and reliable answer. Political institutions in Kurdistan should not accept the above analyses because the responsibility of these institutions is to analyze the developments in order to defuse people’s concerns and to prevent them from fleeing their cities. As we saw during the previous days, in the beginning it was a military setback, and then we reorganized. Later on we heard lots of false information as the IS began a psychological war. We have to be prepared for all kinds of situations, so that the terrorist groups would not dare invade our nations.
Rudaw
: Previously, terrorism was within the framework of small ideological and organizational groups, but this time terrorism attacked Kurdistan in the form of a state. How dangerous is that?
Mohammad Rauf
: As Yekgirtu, we focused very much on obliterating such extremist ideologies and to a great extent we were successful. Our footprint is obvious. We established a moderate infrastructure. Had it not been for our efforts, Kurdistan would have been in a very different situation. In case you have noticed, during the last Friday prayers Islamic clerics presented a true interpretation of Islam, that that Islam is the religion of peace and coexistence. The most valuable thing in Islam is the human, human dignity and freedom.
But extremist ideology has no respect for human dignity and freedom. They want to restrict freedom and turn people into slaves and exterminate them. It was this extremist ideology that ended the life of Prophet Osman Afan with five daggers, stating “three daggers for the sake of God and two daggers for what is in my heart.”
Rudaw
: Has Yekgirtu received any threats from IS for picturing IS as a terrorist organization?
Mohammad Rauf
: We have received death threats from the IS because of our position.
Rudaw
: What is your stand on putting Peshmerga forces in the new Kurdish territories?
Mohammad Rauf
: It is the responsibility of the Kurdish political leadership to analyze the political, military and security situation of those areas in order to preserve the interest of Kurdistan Region, so that we can pass through this situation safe and sound. As Yekgirtu, we reiterate that returning to our areas does not need a referendum. No terrorist and invader ideology can push us back, because abandoning those areas, the right to self-determination and the Kurdistan roadmap for independence will mean that we accept to be treated as second-class citizens.
Rudaw
: Are you optimistic about international military intervention against terrorism?
Mohammad Rauf
: The support of the international community, particularly the US, is appreciated and very important. The Kurdish leadership should appreciate President Obama’s reaction. President Obama came to power stating that the US will not military intervene in any country. Military intervention was not in his strategy. But during the last few days, in a short time, President Obama came forward and talked about the necessity to defend Erbil and Kurds in his statement. The quick US air strikes against IS is unheard of in the history of the US military. The US has not defended any country in such a quick way. The US military support for Kurdistan in such a quick way has shocked the enemy of Kurdistan.
The swift support sent a message to all of Kurdistan’s enemies to never think of invading Kurdistan. Every single Kurd should consider the US support as an important message and we should work on it for our future. Syria is being devastated for the last two years and they are being told to wait, whereas the US support for Kurdistan only needed a few days.
Kurdistan has been a safe place, a safe haven for the troubled and refugees, and a strong force behind the unity of Iraq. It has been proven that we do not benefit from Iraq. Unfortunately, the Islamic and neighboring countries did not positively respond to the favor that we have done for troubled people and refugees. On the contrary, the Western countries came to our rescue and are willing to rectify the mistake of the Sykes-Picot treaty.
http://rudaw.net/english/interview/15082014
