By Payraw Anwar
Diplomacy in the simplest way, is the art of negotiation. Especially between international actors whether it is state actor, or non-state actors. The most important and effective form of diplomacy in the modern time, is the diplomacy forums or summit because it basically provides a neutral and effective platform where key actors including world leaders, different nations, NGOs, multi-national corporations, global actor are engaging and can-do things like preventing, or we can say, reducing of conflicts through dialogue and negotiation as well as misunderstanding can be resolved before they escalate or war occurs at the level of national and international. On the other hand, diplomacy forums will be able to promote cooperation, especially in terms of contemporary global issues, above all, regional instability, climate change, power and conflict dynamics, thus, exchange of ideas and build trust will be another crucial part in building relationships and shaping new policy.
This year’s theme of the 4th edition of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum which was hosted by the ministry of foreign Affairs of the Republic of Türkiye, was “Reclaiming Diplomacy in a Fragmented World” which reflects the divisions and conflicts around the world. The Fourth edition of Antalya Diplomacy Forum takes place with the participation of 20 head of states, 50 foreign relation ministers and other key diplomats in the region while focuses on key issues including diplomacy in a polarized world, AI, countering terrorism and so on.
Kurdistan region of Iraq was presence in the forum, the KR President represented the region. He met with the president of republic of Türkiye with putting three flags; Türkiye, Iraq and KR. This is a key indicator to foster the relations between both sides, Türkiye and KR, while previously, name of Kurdistan and its flag were forbidden in Türkiye.
The KR president also talked on Syria situation, power dynamics, KR- Türkiye relations, conflicts in the Middle East and some other key political developments. they also talked on how to strengthen further their ties & mutual interests. In another word, Syria’s conflict dynamic has been the hottest topic in the forum as Türkiye attempts to be a dominant power in South of Syria in opposite, Israel would play in North of Syria.
In general, KR has potential to play some key roles in the regional political system as follows:
-Kurdistan region of Iraq is a de jure entity in Iraq, it means the region has constitutionally been recognized based on Iraqi permanent constitution in 2005. This legal status has given power to KR to play its vital role in its foreign relations, in particular with neighboring countries through taking part in the diplomatic events like Antalya, Davos and Munich security conference.
-Kurdistan regional government has a strong tie with Türkiye in terms of business, investment and economic market, besides KR has been a business hub since 2010 in exporting goods from Türkiye to other parts of Iraq. This makes KR a leading non-state actor in reshaping policy and power dynamics politics.
In sum, Antalya diplomacy forum is an opportunity to a political entity like KR to bring with state actors together amid growing relationships and mutual understandings.