HEADLINES:

KDP-affiliated writer calls for replacement of US consul-general

AM:08:54:26/03/2023

4288 View

+ -

SULAIMANI — Mashkhal Kaulosy, a writer, political commentator and a member of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), has called for the US consul-general in Erbil to be replaced.

Kaulosy, in a statement posted to Facebook on Saturday, claimed the US consul was interfering in the Kurdistan Region’s internal affairs.

The KDP member states the Kurdistan Region has the right to choose not to conduct affairs with the consul general according to the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations of 1963.

Kaulosy also stated the Kurdistan Region was not obliged to give a reason for this demand.

He did not disclose further details on the alleged interference in the Region’s domestic issues in his statement on Saturday.

The US State Department releases its annual report on the human rights situation in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region last week.

The report criticized the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) for their use of their own security agencies to stifle dissent, the withholding of information from media agencies not affiliated with the parties, their poor record in regards to freedom of the press in the Region, and the treatment of the Badinan detainees.

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Office of the Coordinator for International Advocacy responded to the State Department’s report on March 23, calling the department’s report "inaccurate” and stating it "presents a double-standard modality.”

Lawk Ghafuri, the head of KRG Foreign Media Affairs, told NRT English on Saturday Kaulosy was a "normal writer,” denied he was a KDP member and stated he was not very significant.

(NRT Digital Media)