MESOP NEWS : Baghdad Punishes Disputed Areas Due to Participation in Referendum

Basnews English – 12/10/2017 – 17:29 – Kurdistan – ERBIL — Iraqi central government has stopped sending petrol and gas to the Kurdish areas under the Iraqi government’s administration in Diyala Province after they took part in the September vote on secession from Iraq.

“The Iraqi government claims it does not take any punitive measures against the people of Kurdistan, these claims are merely media statements,” Zahir Tahir, a Diyala Provincial Councilor, said, adding that “in fact, the government is secretly punishing people for having participated in the referendum of Kurdistan.

“They have withheld petrol and gas to Khanaqin, Gulala (Jalawla), and other areas that participated in Kurdistan’s independence referendum for 10 days,” he said.The Councilor said that they have contacted the authorities of the province, but they all claimed that they were not behind the decision. The official called on the Kurdistan Regional Government to take a stance against the punitive decisions of the Iraqi government against the residents of the Kurdistani areas outside KRG’s administration because they’re paying the price of participating in the referendum. www.mesop.de