Kurdistan Region NGOs ask Kurds to leave Baghdad

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) – Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in the Kurdistan Region on Sunday asked the Kurdish political parties to leave the parliament in Baghdad.

The NGOs network in Erbil held a press conference asking the Kurdish MPs and officials in Baghdad to resign and return to the Kurdistan Region.

In a statement, the representatives of some NGOs addressed the Kurdish politicians in Baghdad as well as the public.

The statement revealed a campaign that will launch under the name “The return of Kurdish representatives in Baghdad to the Kurdistan Region.”

The situation in Kurdistan and Iraq is getting worse each day while the Peshmerga forces are sacrificing their lives to defend against terrorism.

However, the statement noted that the Iraqi government does not value the efforts of the Kurdish forces and has not paid them since the beginning of the war.

According to the report, there is a trend in Baghdad that places blame on the Kurds for the failures of the Iraqi government and disrespects Kurdish representatives in parliament.

“We hereby ask the Kurdish diplomats and ministers in Baghdad to take a national stance and make an official and group resignation and return to Kurdistan,” the statement read.

There are several disputes between the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and the Iraqi Federal Government mainly over oil revenue and the national budget.

Additionally, the disputed territories that are currently protected by Peshmerga forces after the retreat of the Iraqi army when the Islamic State (IS) extremists took control are a subject of conflict.

The KRG ramped up independent oil sales through their pipeline to Turkey after Baghdad slashed the Region’s 11 percent national budget in early 2014.

According to the official Iraqi Constitution, Baghdad should have paid the KRG 17 percent.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany