ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Iraq’s Civil Aviation Authority has agreed to address Turkey’s ongoing ban on flights to and from Sulaimani International Airport, according to Haval Abubakr, governor of Sulaimani province.
Abubakr met with Iraq’s Civil Aviation Authority on Sunday to request its help. The Iraqi side said it will raise the issues with Turkish officials.
“We had a good meeting with Ali Khalil, the director general of Iraq’s Civil Aviation Authority,” Abubakr told Rudaw.
“Ali Khalil announced to us that they are in discussions with the Turkish side concerning the matter, and a meeting between Turkey and Iraq will be held in this week,” Abubakr added.
Following the Kurdistan Region’s independence referendum in September 2017, Baghdad banned all international flights to and from Sulaimani and Erbil airports. It lifted the ban in March after bringing the airports under federal control.
Although Turkey lifted its ban on flights to and from Erbil, it refused to reopen its airspace to Sulaimani airport.
Turkey accuses authorities in Sulaimani, particularly the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), of assisting the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a Kurdish insurgent group fighting for greater Kurdish political and cultural rights.
Abubakr said his administration will send a letter to Iraq’s Council of Ministers urging it to add the airport issue to the agenda of its next meeting.
He also revealed Kurdistan Regional Government Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani and his Deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani have promised to follow up on the matter with Turkey.
“Sulaimani airport is one of the most advanced airports in Iraq, and the Iraqi government needs to have a stance on resolving this issue,” Abubakr says he told the head of the Iraqi Civil Aviation Authority.
The blockade has undermined trade and the tourism sector, he added.
Abubakr met with Iraq’s Civil Aviation Authority on Sunday to request its help. The Iraqi side said it will raise the issues with Turkish officials.
“We had a good meeting with Ali Khalil, the director general of Iraq’s Civil Aviation Authority,” Abubakr told Rudaw.
“Ali Khalil announced to us that they are in discussions with the Turkish side concerning the matter, and a meeting between Turkey and Iraq will be held in this week,” Abubakr added.
Following the Kurdistan Region’s independence referendum in September 2017, Baghdad banned all international flights to and from Sulaimani and Erbil airports. It lifted the ban in March after bringing the airports under federal control.
Although Turkey lifted its ban on flights to and from Erbil, it refused to reopen its airspace to Sulaimani airport.
Turkey accuses authorities in Sulaimani, particularly the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), of assisting the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a Kurdish insurgent group fighting for greater Kurdish political and cultural rights.
Abubakr said his administration will send a letter to Iraq’s Council of Ministers urging it to add the airport issue to the agenda of its next meeting.
He also revealed Kurdistan Regional Government Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani and his Deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani have promised to follow up on the matter with Turkey.
“Sulaimani airport is one of the most advanced airports in Iraq, and the Iraqi government needs to have a stance on resolving this issue,” Abubakr says he told the head of the Iraqi Civil Aviation Authority.
The blockade has undermined trade and the tourism sector, he added.
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