Bakhtyar Mohammed Sharif – Activists
Masoud Barzani, the leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), delivered a recent speech to his loyal supporters, once again speaking about dignity. He declared: “We will never trade our dignity for salaries!”
Let me respond: No nation has been subjected to as much indignity as the Kurds have under your rule — not in the past, and certainly not now.
But the bitter truth is, you and your family are the reason that dignity has disappeared entirely from this land and its people.
You have dragged every kind of misery upon the Kurdish nation. From the moment of your emergence, you have been nothing but a burden — a legacy of injustice, and you have remained so ever since.
It was you who helped bury the Mahabad Republic.
You betrayed the 1975 uprising.
It was you who undermined the 1985 revolt.
It was you who turned the Kurdish cause into a civil war — into brother-killing in the name of “resistance.”
And it was you and your clan who sang songs of praise to Saddam, chanting “Zêra, zêra, our leader is gold,” while licking the boots of a dictator.
You orchestrated events that made Kurds ashamed of being Kurdish.
You have denied this nation even a trace of dignity or pride.
So don’t talk to us about dignity — what dignity have you ever left behind for the Kurdish people?
Is there anything under your rule that hasn’t been exploited, looted, or desecrated?
It is you who forced the Kurdish people to anxiously wait each month for news about whether Baghdad might — if it feels generous — send them a quarter or half of a salary, so they can survive and feed their children.
You say: “We are not beggars.”
And yet, you and your sons and grandsons are the furthest from beggars — every single one of your children owns a company. From childhood, they are raised with private businesses and investments — all while enjoying high-ranking posts reserved exclusively for your family.
Meanwhile, under your shadow, the entire Kurdish population has become beggars — living in destitution, while your clan lives like royalty and the people suffer in ruin.
As a Kurdish individual, I ask you directly:
If Baghdad stops sending even that meager portion of the salary — would you be able to provide for your own people?
The answer is obvious: No.
Thirty-three years of your governance have proven beyond doubt that you have failed.
Your version of leadership has amounted to nothing more than theft, corruption, and profiteering under the banner of Kurdish nationalism.
History stands witness to your betrayal.
So stop this political theatre.
If you cannot pay your own people’s wages, then hand over all revenue sources, trade systems, and oil exports to Baghdad — let them at least send regular salaries to the region.
Because this current arrangement is a disgrace in the eyes of the world:
You keep the region’s income for yourselves,
You smuggle and sell oil illegally,
And yet you go begging to Baghdad every month for salaries —
Pleading to the likes of Sudani and Qasim al-Araji to show mercy to your people.
If you cannot improve the lives of this nation,
Then the people have every right to turn their backs on you,
And tell you to pack up and leave.
Because under your rule, everything has been permitted for your family,
And everything has been taken from the Kurdish people.
