After Iraqi Kurdish Independence Vote Backfires, 'I Do Not Regret It,' Says Barzani
In his first interview since pushing through an independence referendum that resulted in an Iraqi military attack, Iraqi Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani tells NPR he's still "very proud" of the result.
There's a light rain falling in the hills around Masoud Barzani's palace north of Irbil. Last week, Barzani stepped down as president of the semi-autonomous Kurdistan regional government in northern Iraq, a position he's held for 12 years. But the building, with its soaring staircases and footsteps of staff echoing through vast marble hallways, is still distinctly presidential.
The Kurdistan region Barzani was instrumental in carving out from the ruins of Saddam Hussein's Iraq has been turned upside down. Barzani, 71, pushed through a historic referendum for Kurdish independence in September. But it backfired, and instead of the repercussions
