World leaders react to lifting of embargo on Kurdistan airports

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan 24) – France, the United States, and the United Kingdom on Tuesday all separately welcomed the decision by the Iraqi government to lift the embargo on the Kurdistan Region’s airports.

In an official statement issued earlier in the day, the Iraqi government declared that an international flight ban on the Kurdistan Region had ended which would allow flights to resume from both Erbil and Sulaimani airports.

In reaction to Baghdad’s decision, French President Emmanuel Macron tweeted that he “welcomed” the lifting of the embargo on the airports in the Kurdistan Region.

Macron stated that “France stands with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani to strengthen national dialogue in Iraq.”

Meanwhile, the United Kingdom’s Minister of State for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Alistair Burt, also embraced the Iraqi government’s decision to resume international flights to Kurdistan.

Burt added that lifting the embargo signaled a positive step in the relations between Baghdad and Erbil.

The UK looks forward to “further progress” in the relations between the KRG and the Iraqi government, the minister stated.

Brett McGurk, US Special Presidential Envoy for the Global Coalition to Counter the Islamic State (IS), applauded Baghdad’s decision, stating that it was “the result of dogged diplomacy over many months.”

McGurk added that the decision is “an important step toward post-IS stability, which requires a strong and unified KRG within the constitutional framework of Iraq.”

In a press conference on Tuesday, Prime Minister Barzani emphasized that the decision to lift the international flight ban on the Kurdistan Region’s airports was a step in the right direction.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany