AS KURDS VOTE YES, BAGHDAD TALKS WAR
▶ Iraqi MPs call for troops to be sent to Kirkuk in response to poll result
More than 92 per cent of Kurdish voters chose independence from Baghdad’s central government, election monitors said yesterday.
Hendrin Mohammed, head of the Iraqi Kurdish region’s election commission, announced the official results, saying thatthe referendum had passed with 92.73 per cent support and a turnout of more than 72 per cent.
The vote was held across the autonomous Kurdish region’s three provinces – Erbil, Dohuk and Sulaymaniyah – and some disputed territories controlled by Kurdish forces but claimed by Baghdad, including Kirkuk. Mr Mohammed said the “counting of votes was complete and that results would be considered final once they are certified by the Kurdish region’s department of justice”.
The non-binding referendum is unlikely to lead to formal independence, but it has intensified long-running tensions with Baghdad.
Yesterday, the Iraqi parliament called on prime minister Haider Al Abadi to send troops to the Kurdish-controlled city of Kirkuk to seize control of its oilfields.
The oil-rich and ethnically diverse city fell under the control of Kurdish forces in 2014 after the chaos that ensued when ISIL extremists captured large parts of the country, including Mosul.
A parliamentary resolution called on Mr Al Abadi to issue “orders for the security forces to be deployed in disputed areas”.
“The government must bring back the oilfields of Kirkuk, which are controlled by the ministry of oil,” the resolution said.
Mr Al Abadi, meanwhile, called for the results of the Kurdish referendum on independence to be annulled as a condition for dialogue to resolve the crisis.
In a speech to parliament, the prime minister renewed his ultimatum for the Kurdish region to hand over control of its international airports by Friday or face a ban on direct international flights.
The Kurdish region had earlier rejected the order from Baghdad to surrender control of its international airports, saying the demand was illegal. Angered by Monday’s referendum on Kurdish independence, Mr Al Abadi warned on Tuesday that the Kurdistan Regional Government had three days to “surrender” all land and air border crossings or face a shutdown of international flights.
But he said humanitarian and other urgent flights would be exempt.
The Iraqi civil aviation authority has sent a notice to foreign airlines telling them that international flights to Erbil, the capital of the Kurdish region, and Sulaymaniyah would be suspended tomorrow and only domestic flights allowed.
But Kurdish transport minister Mowlud Murad said in Erbil yesterday that keeping control of the airports was necessary for the Kurds’ fight against ISIL.
Airlines from Turkey, Lebanon and Egypt said they would suspend operations to and from Iraq’s Kurdish region tomorrow.
Turkish carriers Turkish Airlines, Atlas and Pegasus, which offer frequent connections for Iraqi Kurdistan, will halt their flights, the Turkish consulate in Erbil said.
EgyptAir said it would stop flights to and from the Iraqi Kurdish capital “until further notice”, as Lebanon’s Middle East Airlines said it would also stop flights.
“For now, we’re stopping. The last flight is on the 29th until they solve the issue,” said the Lebanese carrier’s chairman, Mohammad Al Hout.
Mr Al Abadi on Tuesday said his government had decided to demand control of the airports because Monday’s referendum had “destabilised” the region. “Unfortunately, some have tried to weaken Iraq and be stronger than the state,” he said. “We are partners in this country, and the partnership means we work together and don’t carry out unilateral decisions that lead to division and conflict and weakness.”
He also said all “oil revenues
The Kurdish transport minister said that control of the airports was necessary for the Kurds’ fight against ISIL
in Iraqi Kurdistan must also be returned to the control of the federal authorities”.
The Kurds held the referendum despite international calls for it to be postponed.
Iraqi officials have refused to negotiate with the Kurdish authorities and called the referendum unconstitutional.
Also yesterday, Iraqi forces battled ISIL extremists near the city of Ramadi, west of Baghdad, after the militants infiltrated government lines. Ramadi is the capital of vast, mainly Sunni Arab Anbar province, which has long been a bastion of insurgency and was retaken by the army from ISIL only in Decem- ber 2015.