There has been no real breakthrough in the Iraqi central government's attitude toward the status of the Kurdistan region since the 2017 independence referendum, Haider al-Abadi, the former Iraqi prime minister and a head of the Victory Alliance Muslim democratic coalition, told Sputnik in an interview
BAGHDAD (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 10th September, 2020) There has been no real breakthrough in the Iraqi central government's attitude toward the status of the Kurdistan region since the 2017 independence referendum, Haider al-Abadi, the former Iraqi prime minister and a head of the Victory Alliance Muslim democratic coalition, told Sputnik in an interview.
Tensions have persisted between the country's central authorities and the autonomous region of Iraqi Kudistan, as the latter seeks to reach full independence. In October 2017, the regional authorities held a referendum on the matter, with over 92 percent of the local population voting in favor of succession. The vote then prompted military actions as a result of which Baghdad retook control over the oil-rich Kirkuk area and forced the Kurdish government to abandon the referendum results.
"The relationships between the central and regional authorities are still distorted. We did not notice any qualitative progress or a significant breakthrough in the government's attitude toward this issue," al-Abadi said.
The politician continued by calling on Turkey to abandon its large-scale anti-Kurdish offensive in northern Iraq, which was launched in June. Noting that there are a lot of grounds to force Turkey to preserve the sovereignty of Iraq, al-Abadi warned Ankara against continuing its "reckless policy."
The lawmaker called on the states, including the regional ones, to "act reasonably," as the relations could only be established based on mutual respect or, otherwise, they would be destroyed.
The Turkish government has been fighting the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which seeks to establish a Kurdish autonomy in Turkey, since the early 1980s. The PKK and Ankara signed a ceasefire agreement in 2013, but it collapsed just two years later over several terror attacks allegedly committed by PKK militants. Since many PKK bases are located in northern Iraq, Ankara regularly conducts land and air operations in the region.
The Iraqi Foreign Ministry has twice handed a note of protest to the Turkish ambassador over Ankara's military operation what Baghdad considers to be violations of the country's sovereignty.
