Baghdad not serious about resolving flight ban: Official

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan 24) – Baghdad is not serious about resolving disputes related to lifting the ban on Kurdistan’s airports, a Kurdish official said on Tuesday, citing the fact that the Iraqi delegation sent was focused only on security, not technical matters.

In a press conference, Erbil International Airport (EIA) Director-General Talar Fayeq stated that Baghdad had extended the international flight ban on the two airports in the Kurdistan Region until May 31.

“I completely expected Baghdad's decision in favor of the extension because the federal government had not been serious in resolving the disputes with the KRG to implement what both Erbil and Baghdad delegates have agreed in their two meetings,” Fayeq said.

In the second meeting, according to Fayeq, both sides made a draft agreement, and that a delegation of technicians that were scheduled to come from Baghdad to iron out various crucial details, but technician never showed up.

Recently, the Prime Minister of Iraq Haider al-Abadi stated that the negotiations to re-open the Kurdistan Region’s airports are in the final stages, yet some technical issues remained unresolved.

On Feb. 13, Baghdad agreed to allow flights between airports in the Kurdistan Region and Saudi Arabia for religious pilgrimage only, but there have been no developments since, including information from Baghdad on the plan's practical implementation.

“After the decision to allow people from Kurdistan to perform Umrah in Mecca, a KRG delegation from the Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs visited Baghdad to coordinate the mechanism for doing his, but they were given no specific information, such as whether flights would be direct or transit, and which airlines would take them,” Fayeq said.

Baghdad asked the KRG delegation to send the list of pilgrims’ names in two days, said the official. “The deadline of two days was not possible because, even if we gave them the list of the names, these people need more time to prepare and to visit Saudi Consulate to get the visa. All this cannot be done in two days."

She added that a list was indeed sent later, but that no response from Baghdad had yet been received.

The embargo has greatly affected the semi-autonomous region’s economy, forcing many foreign and local companies to close their offices and operations, with hundreds losing their jobs.

After the Kurdistan Region's September 2017 independence referendum, Baghdad enacted collective punitive measures against the Kurdistan Region, including the international flight ban. It also carried out a military operation in which it gained control the oil-rich province of Kirkuk and other disputed territories which had been under the protection of the Peshmerga since 2014.

The embargo has dramatically affected the semi-autonomous region’s economy, forcing many foreign and local companies to close their offices and operations, causing hundreds to lose their jobs.

Over the past few months, many in the Kurdistan Region have held public protests against the sanctions of the Iraqi government, including recent demonstrations by wounded Peshmerga and disabled residents in front of the UN compound in Erbil, in which they call upon the international community to pressure Baghdad to lift the sanctions.

Editing by John J. Catherine