Sulaimani airport opens new terminal as officials lobby Turkey to lift flight ban

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Sulaimani International Airport opened a new terminal building on Monday to meet the demands of 1.5 million passengers per year. City officials meanwhile continue to lobby Turkey to lift its airspace ban on Sulaimani-bound flights.

Built by Zaryah, a construction firm owned by businessman Faruq Mala Mustafa, and paid for by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), the upgrade was long delayed after Baghdad cut the Region’s share of the federal budget in 2014.

At a ceremony unveiling the new terminal, Qubad Talabani, KRG deputy prime minister, said Sulaimani airport a strategic project and one of the best airports in Iraq.

“Undoubtedly an airport isn’t solely an outlet of transportations, rather an essential part of the infrastructure of the country. It is one of the needs of a robust economy,” he told reporters.

“That is why investing in the growth and expansion of the airport is a far-sighted and smart idea.”

He thanked airport employees “who never gave up” when Baghdad imposed an international flight ban on the Kurdistan Region’s airports following its independence referendum in September 2017. Baghdad lifted the ban in March this year.

However, Turkey refused to reopen its airspace to flights to and from Sulaimani – citing security concerns. In reality, the move was designed to pressure the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) – which controls the provincial administration – to stop aiding the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

The PKK is an armed guerrilla force fighting for greater Kurdish political and cultural rights in Turkey. It operates out of headquarters in the Qandil Mountains in the northern Kurdistan Region.

“From this airport, I call on the Turkish government to open the airspace between Sulaimani and Turkey,” said Talabani. “I call on the Turkish government to no longer punish the people of Sulaimani for the stance of a political party, merely supportive of its nation’s brethren.”

“The honorable people of Sulaimani aren’t part of political rivalries. That is why it isn’t right for them to pay the cost.”

The ban prevents many Turkish companies operating in Sulaimani, bars thousands of Kurdish tourists from entering Turkey, and hurts the already suffering economy of Turkey, he said.

Haval Abubakr, governor of Sulaimani, also spoke at the ceremony.

“Sulaimani will become the top center of transit in the whole region. We have spoken of this yesterday. We hope with the reopening of Turkish airspace in the face of the international flights of the Sulaimani airport this task will be fulfilled,” he said.

Abubakr met with Iraq’s Civil Aviation Authority on Sunday. He has also written to the Council of Ministers in Baghdad to appeal for their help lobbying Turkey.

Sulaimani airport opens new terminal as officials lobby Turkey to lift flight ban

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