Rizgar Khoshnaw | Special to Ekurd.net

In the past couple of days, there has been a great deal of media coverage regarding the statement made by Mr. Yusuf Mohammed Sadiq, Speaker of Parliament, and I strongly feel that this issue is long from over.

During the gathering at American University in Sulaimani to commemorate the Halabja tragic incident of 1988, and at the presence of many dignitaries, Mr. Sadiq said, ” Leadership having no education will not succeed.” It was obvious that his remarks were directed at the KRG Prime Minister, Mr. Nechirvan Barzani and Mr. Massoud Barzani.

Mr. Sadiq, a Gorran Party member, should have thought of not only his position, but his party as well. I truly believe that his unwarranted remarks against Barzani will create a deeper conflict between the KDP and Gorran parties. In the past two years I traveled to Sulaimani five times and during all of my visits, I met with many Gorran politicians that I truly hold high regards to as they are very courteous and welcoming. I have never met Mr. Sadiq and I can only judge him by what he said in public about Barzani’s leadership.

Ironically, only four days ago I returned from a 10 day trip to Sulaimani where once again, I met with many Gorran politicians discussing many issues. I have been very pleased with many of them as they are patriotic and sincere individuals. Having said that, I strongly believe that Gorran leadership need to re-evaluate Mr. Sadiq’s position/future within their party after his unprecedented stunt.

It is very understandable that such despicable statement did not bode well with the Barzanis at all and I must commend Mr. Nechirvan Barzani for not taken an irrational stand, and refrained from responding to the statement, at this very important gatherings. He showed what a true statesman should and must act. But, I can not say the same for Mr. Sadiq as his remarks were utterly inappropriate and ill-timed. He was way out of line and a speedy apology to the Barzani family is surly warranted.

Anyone that has been following my writings in the past few years knows that it is very unusual for me to support, or come to the defense, of the KDP/Barzani as I have been very critical of them for allowing corruption play a role in Kurdistan. But, we are not talking about corruption here, we are discussing a politician attacking Barzani and their lack of education and such untrue statement must be defended.

The truth must be told and I will be the person to tell their story. Of course I had made it known that I have not had any contacts or relationship with any Barzani members in the past three years, but still spending 15 years with them,1997-2012, I had come to know them very well.

To suggest that the Barzani’s are not educated is an issue that I am very qualified to discuss and present the truth. Contrary what Mr. Sadiq said, many Barzani members are very well-educated and received their college diplomas in a timely manner in some of the best universities in America. I know this to be a fact since I met them in 1997 while they were attending schools in the Washington, DC area where I reside.

I had befriended the four Barzani cousins/brothers (Masrur, Mugsy, Yousif and Abbas) and I spend a great deal of time with them at their residence. I remember very well how serious they took their education and were very determined to succeed. I would often discuss their school curriculum with them since they were new in the country and I hold three college degrees with a great deal of experience in this field and was able to help them.

Having spent a great deal of time with Yousif and Abbas (brothers of Mr. Nechirvan Barzani) I knew exactly what subjects they were studying and how they were doing at school their entire time, four years, at the university. They often would ask for my advice about a certain subject and I always shared my experience at school with them the best way I knew how. To be fair and honest, I have never seen anyone that learn and excelled as fast as they did. They graduated on a timely manner and had a very respectable score average. So, anyone suggesting that Barzanis are not educated must have their head examined immediately!

Lets not forget that these guys came to the US without speaking hardly any English and in a matter of just one year, they managed to learn it well enough to be able to attend a respectable four year university and that is very impressive by all accounts. You have to give credit where credit is due, as we say in America.

And as far as Mr. Nechirvan Barzani himself, I first met him on October 1997 and at that time he could speak no more than few words of English. Only three years later, I found myself conversing with him in English as he seemed to have great command of the English language in a manner of very short time and without attending any school! Not all people need to attend top universities to be intelligent, they only need to study/learn on their own as Mr. Barzani did. Furthermore, he is now fluent in four languages and that is much more than Mr. Sadiq is able to converse in!!

Rizgar Xoshnaw, a senior Kurdish writer based in Washington, a longtime contributing writer and columnist for Ekurd.net.

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.

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