ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Baghdad has ordered all borders to come under federal control and the removal of internal checkpoints. “All Kurdistan Region’s border crossings will be governed by the Iraqi border crossing board,” the Council of Ministers decreed on Wednesday, according to a statement made public on Friday. Employees at the borders will be “residents of the Kurdistan Region, have skills and expertise in their field of work, and affiliated with the border crossing board,” it added. The Finance Ministry’s customs board will also conduct “temporary patrols” in the Region to monitor imports. In addition, the Council of Ministers ordered the dissolution of three checkpoints in Kirkuk. The Kurdistan Region has control of a length of border with Iran and Iraq’s entire border with Turkey. After the independence referendum of September 2017, Baghdad sought to exert federal control over the borders. Iraqi and Peshmerga forces clashed near Fishkhabur in the weeks after the referendum. Baghdad also set up internal checkpoints to levy tariffs on goods being brought into Iraq from the Kurdistan Region, to the detriment of traders and businesses. The decisions reached by the Council of Ministers this week came after several rounds of talks and a visit to Baghdad by Kurdistan Regional Government Planning Minister Ali Sindi. The decisions will be implemented “in nearest future,” Sindi told Rudaw on Friday.
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