Leader Masoud Barzani commences the K.D.P's 14th Congress in Duhok

Shafaq News/ On Thursday, the leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (K.D.P.), Masoud Barzani, announced the Party's 14th Congress in Duhok, Kurdistan Region.

"Today in Duhok, we commence the 14th Congress of the Kurdistan Democratic Party. On this occasion, I congratulate all members and supporters of the Party and the people of Kurdistan. It is my sincere hope that the results of the Congress will serve the interests of our people." Leader Barzani said on Twitter.

As the 14th Congress begins, attention is turning to the Kurdistan Region, which is going through a critical stage when the world is pulsating with transformations, crises, and challenges.

Given the many current realities, the K.D.P. conference in Duhok will be more concerned with the transformation of the Party that emerged in 1946, after the end of World War II, into a key player in Iraq's balancing act and its association with regional and international relations that it has used over the past decades to fortify and protect Kurdish interests.

According to observers, the Party can summarize its overall accomplishments by saying that it has made the dream of millions of Kurds a reality on the ground, despite the dark circumstances and difficulties.

After being postponed twice due to two unexpected threats, namely ISIS and the COVID-19 pandemic, 800 party delegates are meeting for the first time since 2010 to discuss challenges and unite visions for the future.

Last August, the K.D.P. held elections for its members, who are now participating in the Duhok conference. Approximately 600,000 of those eligible to vote participated in the selection of the 800 delegates, 25% of whom were women.

The conference will face the challenge of staying true to its slogan "Renewal - Justice - Coexistence" despite the passage of 76 years; a period that appears to be long but also demonstrates the vitality of the Party, which, for example, obtained 31 parliamentary seats in the most recent parliamentary elections in October 2021, reinforcing its image as the largest Kurdish Party at the regional and federal levels.

Because of the length of time since the last conference and the number of developments and events that have occurred since then, including the new political détente in Baghdad, many eyes are turning locally, regionally, and internationally to what will take place in the Duhok conference to draw the contours of the next stage, whether in the relationship with Baghdad, the internal affairs of the region and the regional transformations that are taking place, which are multiple and intertwined, regarding which Masoud Barzani and the deputy head of the Party Nechirvan Barzani, have a lot to say.