David Romano told Kurdpress in an interview that the KRG officials should not think the region will not be affected by Iraq crisis as it is a part of Iraq and they should help Baghdad in making reforms.
Erbil officials have not taken any stances towards the protests in the other parts of Iraq. They have tried to keep their oil and budget deal with Baghdad.
Professor of Middle East Politics Missouri State University Department of Political Science, Romano, stated the current protests in Baghdad will be used for strengthening power in Baghdad more than before and amending the Iraqi constitutin which will hurt the region.
Many Iraqi young protestors do not remember pre- Saddam (former toppled Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein) peroid and, therefore, they demand a powerfull government to fight against corruption, he sais, stressing that the Iraqi constitution is the best achievement for the Kurds and all its articles should be kept and respected.
What follow are his answers to Kurdpress questions
Are demonstrations across Iraq a direct threat for Kurds?
Yes. There seems to be a high likelihood of the demonstrations being hijacked to justify further centralizing power in Baghdad and abrogating more of the constitution. Some of the young demonstrators apparently know little of pre-2003 Iraq and express yearning for a strongman rule to clear out corruption in the government. The constitution is the Kurd's most important accomplishment in post-2003 Iraq, and more of its articles need to be implemented and respected rather than abrogated.
One of the demands is amending the Iraq constitution which can lead to nullifying Iraqi Kurdistan Region institution, how this threat is serious?
This threat, along with calls to change Iraq into a presidential system, represent a reflexive authoritarian Arab (or Islamist) nationalism to put forward simple and counter-productive solutions to complex problems. While it's hard to say how many of the demonstrators support this, it seems clear that some parties want to hijack the protests to this end.
Why there is no demonstration in the Kurdistan Region?
The Kurdistan Region simply suffers from much lower levels of corruption and governance paralysis than the rest of Iraq. Services are better, job prospects are better and living conditions are better in Iraqi Kurdistan. Although the Kurdistan Region still has a lot of improvements to make, they are further along than the complete dysfunction in Baghdad.
Can Kurds defend their rights and not let the constitution amendment lead to the Kurdistan Region collapse?
They can and must. They need to step up and help PM Abdul-Mahdi and President Saleh develop a reform package that will truly address the legitimate grievances of the protestors.
It seems that Turkey is serious in oppressing Kurds in Syria and targetting PKK in deep Kurdistan Region's soil, Can Kurdistan Region be the next target for Turkey?
Yes and no. In some sense, the Kurdistan Region is already a target of Turkey -- Operation Claw has seen Turkey establish more long term military presence in the KR and engage in increasingly bold attacks on its opponents in the region, including a recent drone attack in Suleimani. Turkish attacks on Shingal appear to be a regular occurrance. At the same time, however, Iraq is not Syria. Turkey already faced a serious international backlash over its invasion of northern Syria. This would be magnified tenfold if Ankara were to consider a similar move in northern Iraq. The Americans and Europeans might actually stand firm against such a possibility. Turkey also has a lot of business interests linking it to the KRG, which act as a disincentive for this sort of policy. Finally, the principle parties of the KRG are not part of the KCK pro-PKK umbrella network of parties who love to fly Ocalan flags everywhere. This makes a difference.
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