Top delegation from KRG to visit Baghdad soon, Kurdistan lawmaker says

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – A delegation from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) is expected to visit Baghdad soon to discuss ongoing disputes with the Federal Government of Iraq, a Kurdish lawmaker said on Sunday.

Nizar Mala-Ghafar, a member of the Peshmerga Council in the Kurdistan Region’s Parliament, said both Baghdad and Erbil are “taking serious steps” to resolve differences surrounding oil, budget share, the Peshmerga, and Article 140 of the Iraqi Constitution on the status of disputed territories.

“The emphasis of the visit will be on the return of the Peshmerga forces to the disputed territories between Baghdad and the KRG, and also Article 140 of the Iraqi Constitution, since its implementation has been neglected,” Mala-Ghafar told Kurdistan 24.

Following the establishment of the KRG’s ninth cabinet, there have been ongoing talks between Kurdistan and Iraq on unresolved matters.

The autonomous Kurdish government has formed several technical committees to solve and reach a mutual agreement with their counterparts in Baghdad.

Hamza Kaka, a political observer, said the current political groundwork is helping both sides reach an agreement.

“However, there are still some Shia political sides who are against such agreements,” Kaka told Kurdistan 24. “With Kurdistan’s new senior officials, there is a bigger hope for the Kurdistan Region to resolve long-standing disputes with the government of Iraq.”

Oil revenues, disputed territories, and the federal budget are some of the remaining issues between Erbil and Baghdad.

Ties between the two governments have notably improved since the beginning of 2019, with the formation of a new federal government headed by Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdul Mahdi. The governments had fallen out of favor in the aftermath of the Kurdistan Region’s historic independence referendum in September 2017.

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