Kurdistan Premier: We Will Never Give Up Control of Our Own Oil

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Erbil welcomes any talks with Baghdad, "but we will never give up control of our own oil," Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani vowed before the Kurdish parliament on Wednesday, directing his message at the Iraqi government. 

“We are open to dialogue, but if Baghdad chooses to close all the doors we will certainly not be standing there doing nothing,” the prime minister warned. “Selling our oil was a clear message for Baghdad to realize that we will not back down and will do what we have promised in the past."

Barzani's remarks come at a time when relations between Erbil and Baghdad have plummeted over independent oil exports started by Erbil, and Baghdad cutting the region’s budget as punishment for three consecutive months, creating a crisis for the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) as it struggles to pay civil servants.

Last week for the first time, the KRG started selling its oil through the Turkish Ceyhan port. The move provoked Baghdad's immediate condemnation, and a warning of legal action against Turkey for allowing the exports to take place.

The KRG has said that it sees the sale of the oil as its constitutional right.

Barzani said that Baghdad wants control over the Kurdish oil industry, which Erbil was unlikely to hand over.

"Baghdad says that the Iraqi government should be in charge of selling the oil, and we simply say that Baghdad is not entitled to our oil, because their demand is neither constitutional nor legal," Barzani told MPs.

He also said that the KRG agrees for the Iraqi government to monitor the export of Kurdish oil, "but we would never give control of our oil to the Iraqi government.”

The prime minister said that the decision to cut the KRG budget was made long before the sale of the Kurdish oil.

"When we arrived in Baghdad (in March) we assumed that Iraq was experiencing a financial crisis as a whole. But then we learned there that Iraq's economy was fine, and that the only place affected by the funding cut was the Kurdistan Region," Barzani said. He added that wages were cut on the direct orders of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

"The Iraqi finance minister told us that the budget had been cut on orders from the prime minister and commander-in-chief of the armed forces," said Barzani of a meeting of his Kurdish delegation in Baghdad.

Officially, Baghdad is supposed to give Kurdistan 17 percent of the national budget after sovereign expenses, flown in cash from the central bank to Erbil three times a month. But how much is actually paid is disputed. The premier said his government has received only 10 percent in the past. Barzani also said that Iraq owes nearly $5 billion to the Kurdistan Region in delayed funding.

The premier pledged that his government would “find a way” to pay wages, as Kurdistan seeks alternative sources of finance. “There are no guarantees that Iraq would not cut the KRG’s budget again," he warned.