Kurdistan travel agencies protest Iraq flight ban, 7K jobs at stake
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Representatives of a number of Kurdish travel and tourism agencies staged a protest in front of the UN office in Erbil on Thursday condemning the flight ban that affects all international flights to and from the Kurdistan Region due to go into effect Friday evening unless Erbil hands over Erbil and Sulaimani airports to federal authorities.
Reading a statement addressing the foreign missions in the Kurdistan Region, including the UN, US and the United Kingdom, a spokesperson stated that the ban will affect 400 Kurdish companies and cause some 7,000 job losses.
He described the decision by the Iraqi government as “unilateral and oppressive...that directly and collectively punishes the people of Kurdistan.”
He said that the people of Kurdistan were expecting the United Nations and the US-led Global Coalition against ISIS to “congratulate and support” the democratic right of the Kurdish people as practiced in Monday’s referendum vote, “instead of being onlookers when the people of Kurdistan are being punished.”
Almost all airliners stated that they will comply with the flight ban at the request of the Iraqi government.
Qatar Airways revealed on Thursday that they, too, will suspend their flights from Friday evening.
The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) held a meeting on Thursday to discuss the ban, as well as a 12-point decree passed by the Iraqi parliament that, among others, asked the federal government to deploy forces to the Peshmerga-held disputed or Kurdistani areas such as the oil-rich Kirkuk province, and for foreign missions with representatives in Erbil to leave Kurdistan.
The travel agencies said that hundreds of thousands of people, including patients who seek treatment outside the country, and students studying abroad, use the Kurdish airports every year, as well some of the Kurdish Peshmerga who were wounded in the fight against ISIS.
The spokesperson for the protestors added that the flight ban will affect UN workers and those of the international organizations who provide help to more than a million people who are displaced and sheltering in the Kurdistan Region.
He urged talks to take place between the politicians in order to keep matters such as tourism and travel apart from disagreements between the two governments.
Kurdistan's Minister of Transportation, while calling for negotiation with Baghdad over the dispute, told Rudaw on Wednesday that the ban will affect the air operations of the US-led Global Coalition in the Kurdistan Region as they use the airport in Erbil for some of their operations.
Mawlood Bawa Murad said that they were ready to host about 5 to 6 Iraqi officials to monitor the two airports, but warned that Erbil may take countermeasures if talks collapse and the ban lasts for a long period.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi called on the Kurdish government to annul the results of the Kurdish vote on independence, setting a precondition for any talks between Erbil and Baghdad.
Reading a statement addressing the foreign missions in the Kurdistan Region, including the UN, US and the United Kingdom, a spokesperson stated that the ban will affect 400 Kurdish companies and cause some 7,000 job losses.
He described the decision by the Iraqi government as “unilateral and oppressive...that directly and collectively punishes the people of Kurdistan.”
He said that the people of Kurdistan were expecting the United Nations and the US-led Global Coalition against ISIS to “congratulate and support” the democratic right of the Kurdish people as practiced in Monday’s referendum vote, “instead of being onlookers when the people of Kurdistan are being punished.”
Almost all airliners stated that they will comply with the flight ban at the request of the Iraqi government.
Qatar Airways revealed on Thursday that they, too, will suspend their flights from Friday evening.
The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) held a meeting on Thursday to discuss the ban, as well as a 12-point decree passed by the Iraqi parliament that, among others, asked the federal government to deploy forces to the Peshmerga-held disputed or Kurdistani areas such as the oil-rich Kirkuk province, and for foreign missions with representatives in Erbil to leave Kurdistan.
The travel agencies said that hundreds of thousands of people, including patients who seek treatment outside the country, and students studying abroad, use the Kurdish airports every year, as well some of the Kurdish Peshmerga who were wounded in the fight against ISIS.
The spokesperson for the protestors added that the flight ban will affect UN workers and those of the international organizations who provide help to more than a million people who are displaced and sheltering in the Kurdistan Region.
He urged talks to take place between the politicians in order to keep matters such as tourism and travel apart from disagreements between the two governments.
Kurdistan's Minister of Transportation, while calling for negotiation with Baghdad over the dispute, told Rudaw on Wednesday that the ban will affect the air operations of the US-led Global Coalition in the Kurdistan Region as they use the airport in Erbil for some of their operations.
Mawlood Bawa Murad said that they were ready to host about 5 to 6 Iraqi officials to monitor the two airports, but warned that Erbil may take countermeasures if talks collapse and the ban lasts for a long period.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi called on the Kurdish government to annul the results of the Kurdish vote on independence, setting a precondition for any talks between Erbil and Baghdad.