KRG calls on Abadi to honor his promises, respect Constitution

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan 24) - Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) on Wednesday released a statement in response to the Iraq's threat to resume the military attacks on Kurdistan. 

The threat comes at a time when Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has been emphasizing on the Iraqi constitution and promising not to inflict damage to the citizens of the Kurdistan Region. 

KRG called upon PM to fulfill his promises to treat Kurds as first-class citizens, secure their overdue salaries, and respect the constitution.

The Council of Ministers of the Kurdistan Region in a statement said the overdue amount is, "108 billion dinars for salaries of 244,656 retired employees. 38.5 billion dinars for salaries of 96.053 families of martyrs and [victims of ] Anfal [massacre]. 30 billion dinars for salaries of 159.000 for people with special needs and beneficiaries of social welfare. 455 billion dinars for the salaries of 483.307 employees, including (police personnel). 266 billion dinars for the salaries of 266.465 Peshmerga and the forces of Asayish."

The statement protested to the change in calling Kurdistan Region "provinces belonging to the Kurdistan Region," saying the alteration was a clear violation of Article (117) and Article (121) of the Constitution.

Reduction of the share of the Kurdistan Region of the federal budget from 17% to 12.6% was also referred to as contradicting "paragraph (III) of Article (121)" and disregarding "the proportion of the population of the Region," the statement read.

"The reduction of the share of the Kurdistan Region to 12.6% has no constitutional basis and is a violation of the joint agreement between the parties in 2006."

The Council of Ministers of the Kurdistan Region added several other disregards of the constitution and called on PM Abadi to keep his vows to treat citizens fairly.

"We call on the Iraqi Council of Ministers of Iraq to provide an opportunity to negotiate with the Council of Ministers of the Kurdistan Region in order to reformulate the draft federal budget law for the year 2018 on the basis of the principles contained in the Constitution in a manner that guarantees a fair share of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq," the statement concluded.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Iraqi army threatened to deploy military forces in the Kurdistan Region areas and resume military attacks against the Peshmerga forces.

The Iraqi Joint Operations Command in a statement said the federal forces have been given orders to be deployed to secure areas and the border crossings in the Region.

“Iraqi federal forces are mandated to secure areas and borders,” in the Kurdistan Region, the statement said, warning that in case of Peshmerga defense they "will be pursued by the force of federal law and will not be safe.”