Tillerson: Kurdish expectations not met by Iraq, KRG boundaries must be respected

DOHA, Qatar – US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson says that the recent movement of Iraqi forces into areas in northern Iraq was aimed at bringing Iraqi control to areas it held before the ISIS war and that Washington has urged the Iraqis and Peshmerga to avoid confrontation, adding that many Kurdish rights and expectations have not been met by Baghdad and that Prime Minister Abadi has promised to commit to the constitution.

"So a lot of this movement that you’re watching and reporting on is really the Peshmerga forces repositioning to locations that they were prior to that fighting and Iraqi forces needing to relocate to locations prior to the fighting as well, and respect what have been the agreed-upon boundaries between the autonomous Kurdistan region and the rest of Iraq." Tillerson said in Doha.

"So we have encouraged that the parties do that, that they re-establish themselves in accordance with those previously agreed boundaries. And then we have encouraged the parties strongly to engage in Baghdad to fully implement the Iraqi constitution." Tillerson added. "The Kurdish people have a number of unfulfilled expectations, rights that were promised them under the constitution that were never delivered upon, and so there are a number of actions that need to be taken by the parties to fulfill the Iraqi constitution itself."

"So we hope that the parties will find themselves in a position of restraint."

Speaking in Doha with his Qatari counterpart, Tillerson said that areas came the under the control of different forces during the ISIS war that have to be realigned now.

"Our view is that there was a lot of movement of forces, whether they be Peshmerga forces or movement of Iraqi coalition forces, during the war to defeat ISIS, and this was all very well coordinated under the prime minister – Prime Minister Abadi’s leadership, also working with coalition forces as well to defeat Daesh. I think there was always a general understanding though that once the war to defeat Daesh was completed and areas were liberated and they were secure, that everyone would return to their positions where they were located prior to the emergence of Daesh in 2014."

According to the US Secretary of State Iraq's PM Abadi has promised to meet his obligations and commit to the constitution.

He said: "Prime Minister Abadi has, I think, made it clear his commitment to follow through on those constitutional obligations, and we hope the Kurds will engage with Baghdad in a very productive way to see that the constitution is fully implemented. I think many of the Kurds’ concerns will be addressed through that process. So we encourage the parties to not escalate the situation, not lead to conflict, and stay coordinated, and not forget that the war to defeat Daesh is not yet over and that remains the greatest threat to Iraq."

Tillerson: Kurdish expectations not met by Iraq, KRG boundaries must be respected

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