Kurdistan President meets top Iraqi officials

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – On Saturday, Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani arrived in Baghdad and met with top Iraqi officials to discuss Erbil-Baghdad ties.

"I arrived in Baghdad today and met with Iraqi Prime Minister, President, and Speaker of the Parliament," President Barzani said in a tweet. "We discussed bilateral ties, continued dialogue and mutual challenges."

A statement from Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi's office detailed that, in his meeting with President Barzani, they discussed ways to "solve past issues" between the federal Iraqi government and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) "per the constitution...in a way that achieves the general interests of the country."

President Nechirvan Barzani also met with his Iraqi counterpart, Barham Salih. Both sides stressed solving differences and outstanding issues between Erbil and Baghdad on
a constitutional basis and legal framework," according to a statement from Salih's office.

Barzani and Salih also examined potential solutions for the current economic hardships of the country, as well as efforts to curb the spread of the coronavirus disease.

In a separate gathering, President Barzani met with Iraqi parliament speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi to discuss similar topics.

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has indicated its willingness to fulfill its constitutional obligations in exchange for ensuring the region's rights and financial entitlements under the constitution.

Related Article: Kurdistan cabinet discusses economy, return of KRG delegation to Baghdad next week

As part of efforts to resolve longstanding disputes between the two sides, a KRG delegation is planning on conducting another visit to Baghdad this week, after three previous trips.

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.

The two governments eventually converged to some extent on a range of issues, especially after Abdul Mahdi came into office in late 2018.

Still, oil and budget have remained a significant source of dispute between the central government and KRG, first starting when the autonomous region began to export its oil independently. A 2019 deal with the Abdul Mahdi administration stipulated that the KRG must deliver Baghdad 250,000 barrels per day (BPD) in return for, among other things, securing the region's allocation in the Iraqi federal budget.

The Kurdistan Region did not implement the oil handover, but then in late 2019, Erbil again renewed the agreement amid new negotiations. But, Abdul Mahdi explained during a press conference in mid-2019, the federal government has deducted the KRG's share of the national budget by the amount equivalent to the oil barrels owed.

Although Erbil has not announced any concrete results from the earlier rounds of the Baghdad negotiations in May, Kurdish officials have described them as "positive."

Editing by Khrush Najari