Kurds call on UN to put pressure on Baghdad

25.2.2014 – MESOP – Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani met in Erbil with Baghdad’s Kurdish representatives where they discussed the current tensions between the KRG and the federal government of Iraq, especially Baghdad’s economic sanctions on the KRG and asked UN for help.

According to a KRG statement, all participants agreed on a number of points. The first one being that the Kurdistan Region has a right to behave according to what the Iraqi constitution dictates, including receiving its monthly budget from Baghdad and the fact that it should not be employed as a tool to pressure the KRG.

The statement also stressed that further negotiations between the KRG and the federal government should take place in order to achieve KRG’s constitutional rights and ensure a steady income for KRG citizens. The talks also covered Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s need to stop what they view as illegal politics not reflective of Iraq’s constitution, against the KRG and its citizens and the need for Baghdad address the tensions with the KRG through dialogue and negotiation. According to BasNews the last point explains that religious clerics, United Nations (UN), Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), and Arab League countries have been requested to take responsibility and put pressure on the federal government to stop its politics and the economic sanctions on the KRG as it is against the constitution of Iraq, international agreements and the basic principles of human rights.