Iraq
Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani (left) and Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid (right) in a meeting in Baghdad on April 28, 2024. Photo: Office of President Barzani
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani and Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid met in Baghdad on Sunday to discuss numerous topics including the need to strengthen ties between the Iraqi and Kurdish governments.
“Both leaders emphasized the need to promote economic development and enhance services, while also expressing support for the federal government in implementing its agenda. The dialogue between Erbil and Baghdad, aimed at resolving their issues in accordance with the Constitution, was also a key topic of discussion,” said a statement from the Kurdistan Region Presidency.
President Barzani arrived in Baghdad on Saturday for meetings with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani and the ruling State Administration Coalition. It is his second trip to the Iraqi capital in a month and comes against the backdrop of Sudani’s trip to Washington and a deadly drone strike on key oil and gas infrastructure in the Kurdistan Region.
During the meeting with Rashid, Barzani “reiterated the Kurdistan Region’s willingness to engage in dialogue and find mutually agreeable solutions with Baghdad,” and emphasized the importance of visits from both Erbil and Baghdad to continue.
As part of his Baghdad visit, Barzani also separately met with several senior Iraqi political leaders, including Leader of the State of Law Coalition Nouri al-Maliki, Leader of Iraq’s National Wisdom Movement Ammar al-Hakim, President of Iraq’s Supreme Judicial Council Faiq Zidan, former prime minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi, and former speaker of parliament Mohammed al-Halbousi. The meetings are expected to continue.
Maliki told reporters after the meeting that Barzani “carries with him a solid and strong will for solutions and development of relations” between the Iraqi and Kurdish governments.
A day before Barzani traveled to Baghdad, a drone attack on Sulaimani’s Khor Mor gas field killed four Yemen nationals working at the site and knocked some two-thirds of Kurdistan Region’s electricity generation offline. Barzani, in a statement, said it is the federal government’s duty to prevent these attacks and bring the perpetrators to justice.
Barzani and Rashid “condemned the recent drone attack on the Khor Mor gas field in Sulaimani province, denouncing it as a violation of Iraqi sovereignty and a threat to the country’s peace and stability,” according to the statement.
The visit of the Kurdish president also comes about a week after Sudani returned from his trip to the US that included a meeting with President Joe Biden. Before Sudani left, President Barzani traveled to Baghdad to meet with him and attend a meeting of the Shiite-led governing coalition. Kurdistan Region’s salary issues and resuming oil exports were also discussed.
Iraq’s Federal Supreme Court in February ordered the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to submit a breakdown of the monthly budget for its payroll to the finance ministry so Baghdad can start paying the Region’s share from the federal budget.
In a press conference following his meeting with President Barzani in early April, Sudani said that Baghdad is keen to continue financing the Kurdistan Region’s payroll in a way that does not contradict the ruling of the Federal Supreme Court, and urged cooperation and flexibility from Erbil.
Kurdish oil exports have been halted for over a year after a Paris-based arbitration court ruled in favor of Baghdad that Ankara had breached a 1973 pipeline agreement by allowing Erbil to begin independent oil exports in 2014.
Despite several talks between Kurdish, Iraqi, and Turkish officials, the exports have yet to resume and many international oil companies have suspended production. Over 11 billion dollars in revenue have been lost.
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