Iraq vows to quash Kurdish unrest
Government threatens troops and the seizure of oilfields as region seeks independence
IRBIL, IRAQ— The Iraqi government escalated its confrontation with its northern Kurdish region on Wednesday, threatening to send troops and seize oilfields there and taking steps to shut down international flights to and from the region.
The moves came in retaliation for a referendum on Monday in which the region, Iraqi Kurdistan, voted decisively to seek independence from Iraq. Kurdish officials announced Wednesday that nearly 93 per cent of voters approved the referendum, which aims to create an independent state for the Kurds, an ethnic minority in Iraq.
Iraq’s parliament asked the country’s prime minister on Wednesday to deploy troops to the oil-rich city of Kirkuk, one of several disputed areas held by Kurdish troops but claimed by Baghdad, and to take control of all oilfields in the Kurdish region.
A decision to send troops would be up to Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi. He gave no public indication of his intentions on Wednesday, except to say he wanted “no fighting among the people of the country.”
He also sent a delegation from the Iraqi military to Iran to “co-ordinate military efforts,” a military statement said.
Iraq has called the vote illegal and has vowed to ignore the results. The vote has also provoked the Kurdish region’s two powerful neighbours, Turkey and Iran.
All three countries have been conducting military exercises near the border of Iraqi Kurdistan this week.
Iraqi troops, including Shiite Muslim militias incorporated into Iraq’s armed forces, are already in the Kirkuk area. While the city is controlled by Kurdish forces, Iraqi troops are fighting Daesh (also known as ISIS or ISIL) as part of an U.S.-led coalition southwest of the city.
Kurdish troops, known as Peshmerga, seized Kirkuk in 2014, when the Iraqi army fled an assault by militants there.
The inclusion of Kirkuk and other disputed areas in the referendum enraged the Iraqi government, which interpreted the move as a land grab. Baghdad has accused the Kurds of illegally selling Iraqi oil from the Kirkuk oilfields through a pipeline that runs into Turkey.
Beyond the threats of military action, Iraqi authorities have struggled to come up with any meaningful punishment for the Kurds for carrying out the referendum. But with its move to shut down flights to the landlocked region, Iraq seems to have found a weak point.
Iraqi aviation authorities notified foreign airlines Wednesday that it would cancel all permits to land and take off from two international airports in the Kurdish region as of Friday. The action followed an ultimatum by al-Abadi on Tuesday for Kurdistan to surrender control of its two international airports or face a shutdown of international flights.
The Kurdish Regional Government said Wednesday that it would refuse to hand over the airports. The region’s transportation minister, Mawlud Murad, called the Iraqi ultimatum “political and illegal.”
He said the airports were critical to the U.S.-led coalition’s fight against Daesh militants.
Kurdish officials had planned to send a delegation to Baghdad on Wednesday to discuss the issue, but the offer was rebuffed.
Wednesday night, Murad said that the Kurdish government had agreed to hold talks with Iraq about placing Iraqi government observers at its airports.
There was no immediate public response from the Iraqi government, but al-Abadi, speaking to Parliament earlier, said Iraq would not negotiate with the Kurds unless they annulled the results of the vote.
He said he had warned the Kurds “of the consequences of the crisis with Kurdistan.”
“The preservation of the security of the citizens of the country is our priority,” he added.
At least six airlines — three Turkish companies, the Lebanese carrier Middle East Airlines, Royal Jordanian and EgyptAir — started notifying passengers on Wednesday that they were cancelling regularly scheduled flights from the airports in Irbil and Sulaimaniya. Baghdad can make good on its threat because the Iraqi civil aviation authority oversees all airports in the country, including the two international airports in the Kurdish region.
The threat to cancel landing and takeoff permits would force international airlines to cancel flights to those airports because insurance risks would be too high, according to Robert Mann, a former airline executive and industry consultant.
The vote has also provoked the Kurdish region’s two powerful neighbours, Turkey and Iran