Baghdad should treat Kurdistan Region as a 'federal entity', PM Barzani tells UK Ambassador 

The officials agreed that the two governments should resolve their issues constitutionally. 
Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani (right) during his meeting with British Ambassador to Iraq Mark Richard-Bryanson in Erbil, June 30, 2022 (Photo: KRG)
Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani (right) during his meeting with British Ambassador to Iraq Mark Richard-Bryanson in Erbil, June 30, 2022 (Photo: KRG)

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Kurdistan Region should be treated as a "federal entity" by the Iraqi government, Prime Minister Masrour Barzani told the United Kingdom's Ambassador to Iraq in a meeting on Thursday. 

In the meeting held in Erbil, Prime Minister Barzani and Ambassador Mark Bryson-Richardson discussed the outstanding issues between the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and the Government of Iraq, particularly the oil and gas dossier, according to a statement from the prime minister's office. 

Barzani said that the Kurdistan Region has fulfilled its constitutional commitments, and the Iraqi government should respect Erbil's rights enshrined in the 2005 Iraqi constitution. 

The Kurdistan Region should be treated as a "federal entity" by the Iraqi government, he added. 

The officials agreed that the two governments should resolve their issues constitutionally. 

Barzani reiterated Erbil's willingness to reach an agreement with Baghdad on all outstanding issues in a manner in which all of its constitutional entitlements are preserved and protected. 

Bilateral relations between Erbil and London were also discussed in Thursday's meeting, according to the release. 

The management of hydrocarbons is one of the contentious points in the relationship between Erbil and Baghdad. In February, the Iraqi Federal Supreme Court ruled that the Kurdistan Region's oil and gas law is "unconstitutional".

Relying on its hydrocarbons law, Erbil has insisted that all its oil and gas deals with international and regional companies are in line with the Iraqi constitution. 

Prime Minister Barzani, on numerous occasions, expressed his government's rejection of the court's ruling on the unconstitutionality of the Kurdish energy dossier, saying the verdict is "politically motivated".