ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraq on Sunday expressed “astonishment” at remarks by the United States Special Envoy for Syria, Tom Barrack, who dismissed the concepts of decentralization and federalism - including in Iraq - as “illusions.” Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein reaffirmed that the country’s federal system is “indispensable.”
In a statement, the foreign ministry quoted Hussein as expressing “the Iraqi government’s astonishment at recent remarks by the US envoy about Iraq’s internal situation,” noting that “it would have been important to articulate that vision differently and in a way that reflects the political progress and relative stability the country has achieved.”
The Iraqi foreign minister, who also serves as deputy prime minister, further stressed that “the choices of the Iraqi people ought to be respected, and that democracy and the federal system - enshrined in the [Iraqi] Constitution [of 2005] - have become a firm and indispensable path despite ongoing challenges.”
Earlier in the day, the US envoy had remarked that the concepts of decentralization and federalism were “illusions.” Responding to a question from Rudaw on the sidelines of the Doha Forum about Iraq’s federal system, Barrack said, “Our view is simple; there is no community with greater education, legacy, and pedigree than the Iraqis of Mesopotamia. We leave these decisions entirely to you. Centralization, decentralization, federalization - these are all illusions created by governments.”
The foreign ministry added that Hussein and Barrack had met on the sidelines of the Doha Forum, where the Iraqi foreign minister outlined “the stages Iraq went through to solidify its democratic path after 2003 and the complex challenges that accompanied these transformations.