Baghdad-Erbil ties improved after recent high-level meetings: Sunni politician
“For the first time, I feel that Baghdad, Erbil, and the [Kurdistan] Region’s leadership are adamant about solving the outstanding issues,” Iraqi Sunni politician Mashan al-Jabouri told Rudaw’s Sangar Abdulrahman.
“And I believe that both sides are ready to make concessions on matters they previously rejected,” he added.
Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani visited Baghdad on Thursday and met with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani and other senior officials to discuss a range of topics, including pending Erbil-Baghdad issues.
Jabouri said that the recent visit from Prime Minister Barzani showed that everyone in Baghdad and Erbil are working in a positive atmosphere towards a solution, adding that Sudani and his government contributed to this improvement in ties.
“The prime minister [Sudani] holds respect and affection for the leadership of the Kurdistan Region and has no hostile intentions or targeting of the Kurdistan Region. This has helped the brothers in the Region to take significant and important steps that were previously seen as concessions,” he said.
Baghdad and Erbil have been at loggerheads on several issues, including the Kurdistan Region’s share in the federal budget, the salaries of civil servants, and the export of Kurdish oil through the Iraq-Turkey pipeline.
In April, Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani visited Baghdad twice to discuss the pending issues between the two sides and attend the meetings of Iraq’s ruling State Administration coalition.
Jabouri said President Barzani’s visit “brought a tremendous change” to the relations, stating that even the Shiite armed groups’ approach towards the Kurdistan Region has shifted.
Erbil has repeatedly accused Baghdad of not making regular payments of its share of federal funds. Last June, Iraq passed a three-year budget in which the Kurdistan Region's share is 12.6 percent. Baghdad has claimed it has fully implemented its financial obligations to the KRG, including through loans to assist the Region in paying the salaries of its civil servants.
On Monday, the Iraqi parliament approved the budget tables for 2024, which see the Kurdistan Region’s share increased to 14 percent.
Jabouri said he believes that under the current positive atmosphere the agreements between both sides will be implemented, including those regarding the Kurdistan Region's oil exports.
Oil exports from the Kurdistan Region through the Iraq-Turkey pipeline have been halted since March 2023 after a Paris-based arbitration court ruled in favor of Baghdad against Ankara, saying the latter had breached a 1973 pipeline agreement by allowing Erbil to begin independent oil exports in 2014.
Last week, Iraq’s oil ministry invited the KRG and international oil companies (IOCs) working in the Kurdistan Region to an urgent meeting to work towards reaching an agreement on the resumption of Kurdish oil exports. The KRG accepted the invitation and expressed readiness for the meeting.
Despite several talks between Kurdish, Iraqi, and Turkish officials, the exports have yet to resume, and many international oil companies have suspended production.