Kurdistan PM, UN envoy discuss Erbil-Baghdad disputes
Erbil (Kurdistan 24) – Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani said a meeting on Tuesday with the head of the United Nations' mission in Iraq that any agreement between the regional and federal government must be fair to both sides.
The meeting came during the most recent bout of talks between Baghdad and Erbil about a variety of ongoing and seemingly intractable issues that the successive administrations of each have not been able to solve, including budgetary disputes, security, and disputed territories.
In a social media posted later in the day, Barzani wrote that the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) “is ready to make a deal that's fair and consistent with both sides’ rights and duties under the constitution.”
Kurdish officials nearly always speak of the Iraqi constitution in such statements without a clear explanation, largely in reference to the disputed territories on which they feel the KRG is on much more solid legal ground than the federal government. Article 140 outlines a process to officially decide whether such lands are to be considered within or outside the autonomous Kurdistan Region, a process that has still never been implemented, over a decade past its constitutional deadline.
Read More: Iraq’s Supreme Federal Court: Article 140 on disputed areas ‘remains in effect’
In his meeting with UN envoy Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, Barzani discussed the ever-elusive Baghdad-Erbil agreements on main issues, as well as the “political and security situation” in Iraq, according to a statement released by his office. According to the statement, Hennis-Plasschaert showed “readiness” to help both parties reach a “comprehensive” agreement that is in the “interests of the Iraqi peoples.”
In late June, a high-level delegation from the KRG headed by Deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani flew to Baghdad to start its latest round of talks in an effort to reach ever-elusive agreements on the main outstanding problems between Erbil and Baghdad.
Read More: KRG delegation arrives in Baghdad for fourth visit to discuss outstanding issues
Oil and budget have been major sources of friction between the central government in Baghdad and the KRG since the region began to export its oil independently.
Erbil-Baghdad relations have always been fraught with disputes, nearing a total breakdown after the Kurdistan Region’s 2017 independence referendum, followed by Iraqi forces and Iran-backed militias of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) attacking disputed areas such as Kirkuk to push Kurdish Peshmerga forces from them.
Since then, the Islamic State has taken advantage of the resulting security vacuum in such areas to stage attacks on nearby towns and cities.
In order to restore security in the disputed territories, read the statement, Prime Minister Barzani highlighted the “shared benefits of restoring joint security mechanisms” between Peshmerga and Iraq’s security forces in these areas.
Peshmerga officials in Baghdad to develop joint operations in disputed territories
Editing by John J. Catherine