KRG speaker: Independent Kurdish state complex issue

Mustafa Saadoun

Jan 13, 2017

The speaker of the Parliament of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region, Yossef Mohammed speaks during a joint press conference with Kurdistan's Prime Minister (unseen) about oil agreements on May 14, 2015 in Arbil, the capital of the autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq. AFP PHOTO / SAFIN HAMED (Photo credit should read SAFIN HAMED/AFP/Getty Images) — The parliament speaker of Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan Region, Yusuf Mohammed Sadiq, speaks during a joint press conference with Iraqi Kurdistan's prime minister (unseen) about oil agreements in Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan, May 14, 2015. — SAFIN HAMED/AFP/Getty Images

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SULAIMANIYAH, Iraqi Kurdistan — When Yusuf Mohammed Sadiq took up the position of speaker of the Kurdish parliament at the age of 36, the political circles in Iraq, and in particular the Kurdish ones, were shocked, as having a young man in this senior position was an unexpected development.

However, almost 1½ years after his accession to office, he remains unable to reach the parliament building in Erbil province after he was intercepted on Oct. 12, 2015, by a military group affiliated with President of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Massoud Barzani.