UK ambassador urges Kurdistan to maintain talks with Iraq

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – The UK Ambassador to Iraq stressed the significance of continued dialogue between Erbil and Baghdad’s delegations aimed at resolving the two sides’ issues and touched on a previous invitation for KRG PM Nechirvan Barzani to visit London.

According to a Kurdistan Regional Government statement, Barzani received Ambassador Jonathan Wilks in Erbil on Monday and the British diplomat said the UK would make serious efforts in order to bring the Erbil-Baghdad rivalry to an end.

Barzani and Wilks echoed the need to maintain talks between delegations from Erbil and Baghdad on different levels to mend ties and step forward to create an atmosphere for talks on the pressing issues.

Erbil-Baghdad talks between the KRG and Iraqi prime ministers have not taken place yet. Ministerial-level meetings have occurred to try to stem basic shortfalls in the Kurdistan Region like the salaries of essential civil servants, like dam employees and teachers, as well as lifting the Baghdad-imposed international flight ban on the Kurdistan Region’s airports. The two sides have also discussed joint border administration.

The Kurdistan Region’s revenues were slashed in half after Iraqi forces supported by Iran-backed Shiite Hashd al-Shaabi paramilitaries took control of oil-rich Kirkuk in October 2017. Kirkuk is a disputed or Kurdistani area claimed by Baghdad and Erbil.

Another topic of the meeting between Barzani and Wilks was the looming Iraqi elections, the Iraq and Kurdistan Region situations.

Wilks reiterated an earlier invitation by Theresa May for Barzani to visit London.

In December 2017, British Prime Minister Theresa May invited Barzani for a meeting "in due course.”

Following a day-long meeting on Monday, Kurdish and Iraqi delegates agreed for the Kurdistan Region airports to come under Iraqi civil aviation authority, one of a list of recommendations to be presented to the Iraqi government for approval.

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