The Iraqi government on Friday suspended worldwide flights to and from the autonomous region of Kurdistan in response to the referendum – held in defiance of Baghdad – that saw the Kurds vote in favour of independence.
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Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım said, “From now on, our relationships with the region will be conducted with the central government, Baghdad”.
The Kurdistan Regional Government says the “referendum will give a mandate for talks to secede from Iraq, although Baghdad has already ruled out such talks”.
The cut in foreign air links is Baghdad’s first retaliatory measure for Monday’s 92 percent “yes” vote in the non-binding referendum for independence held by the KRG.
Iraq’s Transport Ministry ordered worldwide airlines to halt service to Irbil, the Kurdish regional capital, and Sulaimaniyah, its second city, beginning this evening. “This involves border claims, military action directed against (Iraqi city) Kirkuk and the pressure on airlines to cease operations into the Kurdistan Regional Government”.
Turkey fears the vote will stoke the separatist ambitions of its own sizeable Kurdish minority and on Tuesday President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned that Iraq’s Kurds risked sparking an “ethnic war”.
In Iraq, where they make up an estimated 15% to 20% of the population of 37 million, Kurds faced decades of repression before acquiring autonomy in 1991.
According to the Iraqi media, the office of Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi released a statement expressing the premier’s appreciation for the grand cleric’s stance after Ayatollah Sistani called on the Kurds to return to the “constitutional” path.
Both Erbil and Baghdad are accusing the other of acting illegally and contrary to the constitution.
After the vote, Iraq, Iran and Turkey demanded that the KRG surrender control over its outer border areas with Turkey, Iran and Syria.
Kurdish authorities rejected Baghdad’s demands that they should annul the referendum as a condition for dialogue and hand over control of their global airports.
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Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Major General Mohammad Baqeri received his Iraqi counterpart Major General Othman al-Ghanmi, who was in Tehran at the head of a military delegation.
