Baghdad reopens Kurdistan airports to external traffic
Iraq is reopening airports in the Kurdish region to international flights after restoring federal control, Prime Minister Haider Al Abadi said yesterday.
The announcement comes six months after the airports were shut following the referendum in northern Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region, a vote that was declared illegal by Baghdad.
Mr Al Abadi’s office tweeted that the airports in Erbil and Sulaymaniyah would accept international flights within a few days.
He described it as “a gift to the people of Kurdistan,” and added that the central government would also release salaries for government employees in the region ahead of Kurdish new year celebrations this month.
The vote, which was non-binding but overwhelmingly backed independence, was held across the Kurdish region’s three provinces and some disputed territories controlled by Iraqi Kurdish security forces but claimed by Baghdad.
The referendum was also rejected by Iraq’s neighbours, increasing tension in the region after the victories against ISIL.
Meanwhile, Iraqi President Fuad Masum is refusing to approve this year’s budget because of “legal and constitutional violations”, his legal adviser told Reuters yesterday.
The long-delayed budget was passed by the Iraq Parliament on March 3, but Kurdish politicans boycotted the vote in protest over their region’s diminished allocation.
Mr Masum is a Kurd and holds a largely ceremonial role in the Iraqi state, where most power lies with the prime minister.
“We are sending the budget back to the parliament to amend the legal and constitutional violations we pointed out,” legal adviser Amir Al Kenany said.