DELPHI, Greece — The Deputy Prime Minister of Kurdistan’s Regional Government in Iraq told Breitbart News exclusively that he and the Kurds look at President Donald Trump’s return to the White House as a historic opportunity for deeper business and economic ties between the United States and Kurdistan, as well Iraq as a whole.
Qubad Talabani, the Deputy Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government—a semi-autonomous region inside of Iraq—sat with Breitbart News for an exclusive interview earlier this month at the Delphi Economic Forum in the mountains of Greece.
“The Kurds are your number one allies in that part of the world,” Talabani told Breitbart News when asked what his message is for President Trump if he reads this article. “We want to work with you, Mr. President, and your administration and prove to you that we’re worth it.”
The Delphi Economic Forum is an annual gathering in ancient Delphi, Greece, of political, security, economic, and cultural leaders. Greece’s Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, whom Breitbart News interviewed before the forum and Trump responded to while here, also spoke at the event as did key government and security officials from throughout Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas. Talabani is a key official as in addition to helping lead the Kurdistan government, which operates inside of Iraq, his father Jalal Talabani was President of Iraq from April 2005 until July 2014. Jalal Talabani’s leadership came in the immediate aftermath of the fall of Saddam Hussein, whose government was obviously toppled by American forces in 2003.
Trump, famously, criticized former Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama for failing to leverage the United States’ efforts in the war in Iraq to secure long-term economic benefits for the U.S. from the oil-rich nation.
Asked about this criticism from Trump, which he made repeatedly during his first campaign for president in 2016, Talabani generally agreed with Trump arguing the U.S. had nothing to show economically for all the blood and treasure Americans spilled toppling Saddam Hussein. Talabani said he hopes the Kurds can help Trump make it right for America by boosting economic ties in the region with the United States.
“The United States has invested so much in Iraq so far, financially, through their most prized assets which is the lives of their soldiers, emotionally through the war and what it meant to the public. Has the U.S. made money from Iraq? No. Is that right? No,” Talabani said. “So, this is the thing that frustrates us. Look, we’re open for business and we’ll deal with anyone that wants to come and work in Kurdistan. But after what we’ve been through with the United States, we would like you to be there. We would like America to be there. We would like American businesses to be there. We would like American investment to be there, American interests to be there. That ties us in in a deeper way. So I think whatever the reasons have been in the past, I can’t go into them because I don’t know. Maybe other priorities or geo-strategic issues may have been more front and center in previous administrations. But I think looking at this portfolio not just through the traditional ‘oh, it’s in America’s national security interest to fight terrorism’—that’s fine. But parallel to that there’s got to be some other benefits to it and we’re ready.”
Talabani also said that Kurdistan being landlocked makes it particularly dependent on its relationships with other regional partners.
“Kurdistan, obviously being landlocked, a lot of what happens regionally impacts Kurdistan,” Talabani said. “So we’re a federal region within a country. We have our own laws, our own parliament, our own government, but our biggest challenge is regional instability. There’s no point having oil and gas if we can’t export it—if we can’t get it out—so that relationship with Baghdad is important. It hasn’t always been great. Even now, it could be better and should be better. So, really for us, focusing on economic growth and economic prosperity is the number one priority and that’s really one of the benefits of coming to this forum is we get to meet with a lot of interesting people and learn from other countries.”
He argued in particular that Kurdistan is even better an environment for U.S. business investment than many other places in the Middle East.
“Unlike other parts of the Middle East, Kurdistan is a really conducive investment and business opportunity for the United States, for American companies, and for American economic interests,” Talabani told Breitbart News. “I think that focusing on obviously counterterrorism cooperation is key and we will need to continue for a while longer, but at the same time increased trade and economic partnership that now is the time.”
Asked if Trump’s return to the White House has electrified and energized the region with hope of such business opportunities with the West and in particular the United States, Talabani said it “absolutely” has. The hope, he elaborated, is that Trump will help the U.S. look at the region more than just a security and counterterrorism front but also see it as a bastion of economic opportunity.
“In Kurdistan, there’s a lot of excitement and there is a lot of I would say anticipation from the business community and the government,” Talabani said. “We’re used to working with the U.S. through successive administrations on political issues and security issues. We’ve been through multiple wars together. But I think now is the time to shift focus and how do we utilize the safety and prosperity of Kurdistan and make it a strong base for U.S. economic interests in the region? We’re ready, the environment is ready, the society is ready, the government is ready and so we’re excited that when the U.S. administration gets to focus on Iraq—right now they might be focused on a few other issues—but when they turn their gaze to Iraq they will see that Kurdistan is their ally.”
The good news, Talabani said, is that the Kurds already have a lot of friends throughout Trump’s administration, specifically citing National Security Adviser Mike Waltz and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. He mentioned too that he traveled to Washington, DC, for Trump’s inauguration in January.
“Yes, thankfully we have a lot of friends in the administration in various agencies and the NSC and at State and others,” Talabani said when he asked if he has been received well by the new administration. “We’ve built up a lot of friends over the years and now we have a lot of friends in good positions. We’re hopeful that that will translate into a more impactful policy for Kurdistan and the region as a whole.”
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