Kirkuk delegates discuss oil with Baghdad

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (K24) – Kurdish delegates from Kirkuk Province visited Baghdad on Wednesday, discussing security and oil-related issues with Iraqi officials.

In an exclusive interview with K24, a Kurdish member of the Iraqi Parliament, Rebwar Taha stated that the purpose of the visit was to discuss oil revenue and current Interior Ministry policies regarding police forces in Kirkuk Province.

“We [delegates] met with former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, representatives from the Oil Ministry, Interior Ministry, Speaker of Parliament Salim al-Jabouri, President Fuad Masum, and other Sunni and Shia officials,” Taha says.

“Recently, the Interior Ministry decided to transfer some police officers in Kirkuk to other provinces in central and southern Iraq. It was a problem for our [Kurdish] officers, but fortunately, we solved this issue,” Taha added.

During the meeting with Oil Ministry officials, the Kurdish delegates discussed Kirkuk's oil exports and its financial benefits for the province and country in general. “We discussed the financial crisis facing Iraq and the Kurdistan Region and explained that Kirkuk's oil exports fulfill the needs for Iraq’s total budget," Taha continued, "Therefore, the province deserves to receive financial benefits from such exports. They [federal government of Iraq] had some concerns about exporting oil from Kirkuk, which is currently administered by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Ministry of Natural Resources."

Taha noted that since June 2015, Kirkuk has exported oil and been under KRG administration.

Speaking about the delegations' meeting with former Prime Minister al-Maliki, responsible for cutting Kurdistan Region’s budget since 2014, Taha explained that Kurds must begin relations with other political parties since they are still part of Iraq. 

(Reporting by Mewan Dolamari; Editing by Benjamin Kweskin)