Jalal Talabani

“My door will always be open to those who genuinely renounce violence and seek peaceful accommodation into our nascent democracy.”

“Conciliation is not capitulation, nor is compromise to be deemed equivalent to imbalanced concession.”

“Self-determination could mean independence, confederacy, federal and autonomy.”

“Democracies, unlike dictatorships, are forgiving and generous, but they cannot survive unless they fight.”

“The Kurdish people have the right of self-determination like every other nation in the world.”

“The Kurdish people welcome the no-fly zone protection, contrary to the Iraqi regime that is against it.”

“I shall stand for freedom of thought and expression in a place where it has been trampled and penalized.”

“The justice of our cause must be reflected in the manner in which we rectify the crimes of the past.”

“This will be Iraq for all without discrimination among Iraqi citizens, or ethnic or sectarian discrimination.”

“Justice for the major perpetrators cannot be separated from the vindication of the rights of the individual victim.”

“Wishful thinking is one thing, and reality another.”