Barzani urges PUK to sit down with KDP and end Kurdistan Region crisis

ERBIL — Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani on Monday urged the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan to sit down with the Kurdistan Democratic Party he leads and end the Kurdistan Region’s political crisis, four days after the PUK said it was quitting the regional government.

In a statement posted by his office, the Barzani Headquarters, Barzani said every side must bear in mind that “the interests of the people of Kurdistan are greater than every other interest and goal.”

“I call on the brothers in the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan to sit down together with the KDP, resolve the problems and put an end to the Kurdistan Region’s political crisis,” he said.

He said he also hoped the Region’s other political parties would take part in the political process, so that together they could form a broad-based national unity government that meets the demands of the people of Kurdistan.

The statement set no timetable for talks and did not say how the parties should settle their disputes over the parliament’s leadership and a new cabinet. The PUK had not publicly responded by the time of publication.

The appeal was Barzani’s second in a week. On Wednesday, the Kurdistan Region’s parliament held its first sitting with a quorum since its members were sworn in in December 2024 and elected the KDP’s Vala Fareed speaker. Barzani said the same day that the reopening was not directed against any party and urged the boycotting parties to join the next steps.

Fifty-two of the parliament’s 100 members attended, one more than the 51 the law requires to elect its leadership. They also elected Rami Nouri deputy speaker and Muna Kahveci secretary. The PUK, the New Generation Movement and several smaller parties boycotted the sitting. The PUK said it bypassed political agreements, and the KDP says it was lawful.

On Thursday, PUK President Bafel Talabani said the PUK was quitting the Kurdistan Regional Government and would name its own Region president and cabinet if the KDP did. He said the PUK would recognize neither the parliament nor any government or post that came out of it.

KDP-PUK talks on a new cabinet have repeatedly broken down over power-sharing and senior posts. The Region has had no new cabinet since its Oct. 20, 2024, election, in which the KDP won 39 of the 100 seats, the PUK 23 and New Generation 15, leaving no party with a majority.

The current KRG cabinet, formed in 2019 and led by Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani, remains in office. Iraq’s Federal Supreme Court has set Dec. 14 to hear a lawsuit asking it to declare the KRG a caretaker government.