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| Kerry Implores Kurdish Leader to Join a Government and Not Break Away | Kerry Implores Kurdish Leader to Join a Government and Not Break Away |
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| ERBIL, Iraq — Secretary of State John Kerry urged the president of Iraq’s Kurdish autonomous region on Tuesday not to seek his own state and instead help form a government in Baghdad. | |
| “I am going to bring up the elephant in the room,” Mr. Kerry told the president, Masoud Barzani, who serves as the leader of the Iraqi Kurds, a minority who have long sought independence. “This moment requires statesmanship.” | “I am going to bring up the elephant in the room,” Mr. Kerry told the president, Masoud Barzani, who serves as the leader of the Iraqi Kurds, a minority who have long sought independence. “This moment requires statesmanship.” |
| Mr. Kerry’s statements, shared by a senior State Department official who attended the meeting, were prompted by recent comments by Mr. Barzani in an interview with CNN about what he called the need for Kurdish self-determination. | Mr. Kerry’s statements, shared by a senior State Department official who attended the meeting, were prompted by recent comments by Mr. Barzani in an interview with CNN about what he called the need for Kurdish self-determination. |
| Mr. Barzani neither withdrew those comments nor said that he would take concrete steps to pursue self-determination during his meeting with Mr. Kerry, who traveled to Iraq on Monday as part of an emergency effort to help deal with a growing Sunni insurgency threatening to partition the country. | Mr. Barzani neither withdrew those comments nor said that he would take concrete steps to pursue self-determination during his meeting with Mr. Kerry, who traveled to Iraq on Monday as part of an emergency effort to help deal with a growing Sunni insurgency threatening to partition the country. |
| But Mr. Barzani made no secret of his disdain for Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, a Shiite. Mr. Barzani also bluntly expressed his sense that the gains by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, the Sunni extremist group known as ISIS, had changed the political landscape. | But Mr. Barzani made no secret of his disdain for Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, a Shiite. Mr. Barzani also bluntly expressed his sense that the gains by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, the Sunni extremist group known as ISIS, had changed the political landscape. |
| “We are facing a new reality and a new Iraq,” Mr. Barzani said at the start of his meeting with Mr. Kerry. | “We are facing a new reality and a new Iraq,” Mr. Barzani said at the start of his meeting with Mr. Kerry. |
| Mr. Kerry’s trip to the Kurdish regional capital, Erbil, was his first as secretary of state. He met with Mr. Barzani after meetings in Baghdad on Monday with Mr. Maliki and rival Shiite and Sunni politicians. (The last secretary of state to visit Erbil was Condoleezza Rice, in 2006, at the height of the American-led Iraq occupation.) | Mr. Kerry’s trip to the Kurdish regional capital, Erbil, was his first as secretary of state. He met with Mr. Barzani after meetings in Baghdad on Monday with Mr. Maliki and rival Shiite and Sunni politicians. (The last secretary of state to visit Erbil was Condoleezza Rice, in 2006, at the height of the American-led Iraq occupation.) |
| After ISIS members took over the northern city of Mosul two weeks ago and began to move south, Kurdish security forces responded by seizing Kirkuk, a city in an oil-rich region that has long been divided between Arabs and Kurds. | After ISIS members took over the northern city of Mosul two weeks ago and began to move south, Kurdish security forces responded by seizing Kirkuk, a city in an oil-rich region that has long been divided between Arabs and Kurds. |
| The Kurds’ expansion has put them in a position to demand more autonomy in political talks over Iraq’s future. But it might also complicate the effort to cobble together a new Iraqi government, particularly one that does not include Mr. Maliki, long accused of autocratic tendencies by Iraqi politicians. | The Kurds’ expansion has put them in a position to demand more autonomy in political talks over Iraq’s future. But it might also complicate the effort to cobble together a new Iraqi government, particularly one that does not include Mr. Maliki, long accused of autocratic tendencies by Iraqi politicians. |
| American officials have made clear privately that they would support the selection of a new prime minister if Mr. Maliki’s rivals would unite behind an alternative. But it is uncertain whether Sunni and Kurdish political parties can find enough common ground in forming a new government now that the Kurdish militia, known as the pesh merga, has taken control of Kirkuk. | American officials have made clear privately that they would support the selection of a new prime minister if Mr. Maliki’s rivals would unite behind an alternative. But it is uncertain whether Sunni and Kurdish political parties can find enough common ground in forming a new government now that the Kurdish militia, known as the pesh merga, has taken control of Kirkuk. |
| “Ousting Maliki will require the cooperation of all the other blocs,” said Ramzy Mardini, an expert on Iraq and a nonresident fellow at the Atlantic Council, an independent research organization based in Washington. | |
| “But Iraq isn’t a place where collective interests reign over parochial ones,” Mr. Mardini said. “The crisis is creating new facts on the ground, and will likely affect how the next government is formed. For example, Sunni and Kurdish cooperation is likely to diminish on government formation after the Kurds grabbed Kirkuk.” | “But Iraq isn’t a place where collective interests reign over parochial ones,” Mr. Mardini said. “The crisis is creating new facts on the ground, and will likely affect how the next government is formed. For example, Sunni and Kurdish cooperation is likely to diminish on government formation after the Kurds grabbed Kirkuk.” |
| The Obama administration’s previous, frustrated attempt to encourage the formation of a government in Iraq has also cast a shadow over the United States’ relationship with the Kurds. | |
| In 2010, a year before the American military left the country, Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. promoted an arrangement to keep Mr. Maliki as prime minister while seeking to give some power to his main political rival, Ayad Allawi, a secular Shiite who then headed a bloc that also represented many Sunnis. | In 2010, a year before the American military left the country, Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. promoted an arrangement to keep Mr. Maliki as prime minister while seeking to give some power to his main political rival, Ayad Allawi, a secular Shiite who then headed a bloc that also represented many Sunnis. |
| In an effort to cement that power-sharing relationship, in November of that year President Obama telephoned Jalal Talabani, a Kurd who serves as Iraq’s president, and asked him to relinquish his post so it could be given to Mr. Allawi. Mr. Talabani turned down the request. | In an effort to cement that power-sharing relationship, in November of that year President Obama telephoned Jalal Talabani, a Kurd who serves as Iraq’s president, and asked him to relinquish his post so it could be given to Mr. Allawi. Mr. Talabani turned down the request. |
| “The Kurdish decided that it would be kind of humiliating, so they refused it categorically,” Mr. Talabani recalled. | “The Kurdish decided that it would be kind of humiliating, so they refused it categorically,” Mr. Talabani recalled. |
| Mr. Obama later sent a letter to Mr. Barzani reiterating the proposal, and Mr. Barzani also rebuffed it. | Mr. Obama later sent a letter to Mr. Barzani reiterating the proposal, and Mr. Barzani also rebuffed it. |
| Apparently mindful of that earlier episode, senior American officials have gone out of their way to say they accept that a Kurd should continue to occupy the post of president when a new Iraqi government is formed. | |
| “It’s really essential that the Kurds are an effective and active part of the national political process, including with a very strong Kurdish president,” a second State Department official said. | “It’s really essential that the Kurds are an effective and active part of the national political process, including with a very strong Kurdish president,” a second State Department official said. |
| American officials also said that Mr. Kerry had not focused in his discussions with Mr. Barzani on the Kurd seizure of Kirkuk and other disputed territory, but rather had concentrated on what they called the need to move quickly to form an inclusive government. | American officials also said that Mr. Kerry had not focused in his discussions with Mr. Barzani on the Kurd seizure of Kirkuk and other disputed territory, but rather had concentrated on what they called the need to move quickly to form an inclusive government. |
| In his comments on CNN, Mr. Barzani said that the failures of the Iraqi military against the ISIS advances had led many Kurds, who have long dreamed of their own state, to think about the need for self-determination. | In his comments on CNN, Mr. Barzani said that the failures of the Iraqi military against the ISIS advances had led many Kurds, who have long dreamed of their own state, to think about the need for self-determination. |
| “We did not cause the collapse of Iraq,” Mr. Barzani said through an interpreter. “It is others who did. And we cannot remain hostages for the unknown.” | “We did not cause the collapse of Iraq,” Mr. Barzani said through an interpreter. “It is others who did. And we cannot remain hostages for the unknown.” |
| “The time is here for the Kurdistan people to determine their future, and the decision of the people is what we are going to uphold.” | “The time is here for the Kurdistan people to determine their future, and the decision of the people is what we are going to uphold.” |
| After meeting with Mr. Barzani, Mr. Kerry left on a C-17 aircraft for a meeting in Brussels of NATO foreign ministers, who are grappling with the crisis in Ukraine. | After meeting with Mr. Barzani, Mr. Kerry left on a C-17 aircraft for a meeting in Brussels of NATO foreign ministers, who are grappling with the crisis in Ukraine. |
| The Erbil meeting came against the backdrop of unconfirmed and sometimes conflicting reports of new airstrikes on ISIS positions in western Iraq, possibly from Syria, and scattered violence linked to the Sunni insurgency. | The Erbil meeting came against the backdrop of unconfirmed and sometimes conflicting reports of new airstrikes on ISIS positions in western Iraq, possibly from Syria, and scattered violence linked to the Sunni insurgency. |
| There were unconfirmed reports from local officials and witnesses in the border town of Qaim near Syria and another town, Rutba, 90 miles from the Jordan border — both of them seized by insurgents in recent days — that warplanes from the Syrian Air Force had bombed them, killing 44 people. The reports could not be independently verified. | There were unconfirmed reports from local officials and witnesses in the border town of Qaim near Syria and another town, Rutba, 90 miles from the Jordan border — both of them seized by insurgents in recent days — that warplanes from the Syrian Air Force had bombed them, killing 44 people. The reports could not be independently verified. |
| Other unconfirmed reports asserted that American forces had started drone strikes on ISIS positions; the reports were denied by Pentagon officials. | Other unconfirmed reports asserted that American forces had started drone strikes on ISIS positions; the reports were denied by Pentagon officials. |
| Gen. Qassim Atta, an Iraqi military spokesman, said in a televised news conference that government forces had regained full control of border crossings near Trebil and Waleed, both reported by witnesses to have fallen out of government hands. The general said the security forces had received tribal help in reclaiming the border points, although people contacted in both areas contradicted his assessment. | Gen. Qassim Atta, an Iraqi military spokesman, said in a televised news conference that government forces had regained full control of border crossings near Trebil and Waleed, both reported by witnesses to have fallen out of government hands. The general said the security forces had received tribal help in reclaiming the border points, although people contacted in both areas contradicted his assessment. |
| At the border point near Trebil, the only legal crossing point to Jordan, an employee of the border service, reached by telephone, said that Iraqi security forces had abandoned the post and that no tribal presence was visible. | |
| Elsewhere, Sunni militants ringing the sprawling oil refinery in the northern town of Baiji again claimed to have overrun the complex. An Iraqi officer defending the refinery, reached by telephone, said the claim was false. In Mosul, the ISIS forces that are now governing the city were said by residents to have destroyed six historically significant or religious sites, including statues of a famous Muslim historian, poet and musician. In southern Kirkuk, the police said unidentified gunmen killed the Turkmen head of a local City Council and wounded his driver. The motive for that attack was unclear. | Elsewhere, Sunni militants ringing the sprawling oil refinery in the northern town of Baiji again claimed to have overrun the complex. An Iraqi officer defending the refinery, reached by telephone, said the claim was false. In Mosul, the ISIS forces that are now governing the city were said by residents to have destroyed six historically significant or religious sites, including statues of a famous Muslim historian, poet and musician. In southern Kirkuk, the police said unidentified gunmen killed the Turkmen head of a local City Council and wounded his driver. The motive for that attack was unclear. |
| In Washington, the Pentagon said the first team of American military personnel had deployed to Iraq, part of the operations that President Obama announced last week to help the Iraqi government combat the Sunni militants. | In Washington, the Pentagon said the first team of American military personnel had deployed to Iraq, part of the operations that President Obama announced last week to help the Iraqi government combat the Sunni militants. |
| Rear Adm. John F. Kirby, the Pentagon spokesman, said the first team included 90 special operations and technical advisers sent to Baghdad, joined by 40 American advisers who were already in Iraq, assigned to the United States Embassy. An additional 170 advisers were expected to travel to Iraq later. | |
| Admiral Kirby, reiterating Mr. Obama’s pledge, maintained that the role of the advisers would be to assess and assist Iraqi troops, not engage in any combat themselves. | Admiral Kirby, reiterating Mr. Obama’s pledge, maintained that the role of the advisers would be to assess and assist Iraqi troops, not engage in any combat themselves. |