Iraq lifts ban on international flights to Kurdish airports

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on Tuesday lifted a ban on international flights to two airports in Erbil and Sulaimaniyah in the semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan.

In this Feb. 17, 2018 photo Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, speaks at the Security Conference in Munich, Germany. [File photo: dpa via AP/Sven Hoppe]

A statement by his office said that Abadi signed a decree to lift the ban after receiving positive response from the Kurdish local authorities "to restore the federal authority in the two airports in accordance with the Constitution of Iraq."

Abadi made the announcement during his meeting with the officers of the regional Interior Ministry who are working at the two airports, the statement said.

Abadi also said that a new security directorate will be established to protect the airports in the Kurdish region, and it will be under command and control of the federal Interior Ministry.

All the regional airports and border crossings will be linked directly to the main control system in Baghdad, similar to what is done in the other Iraqi airports and crossing, the statement said.

The passports and national ID offices and the employees at the airports of Erbil and Sulaimaniyah will also be linked to the federal Interior Ministry, it added.

In September 2017, the Iraqi federal government imposed the flights ban on the Kurdish region as part of a package of punitive measures that also included blocking all the border crossings outside the federal control.

The ban on international flights on the region's international airports of Erbil and Sulaimaniyah forced passengers to apply for an Iraqi visa to transit through Baghdad and Basra international airports to go or leave the Kurdish region.

Tensions rose between Baghdad and the region of Kurdistan after the Kurds held a controversial referendum later last September to approve the independence of the Kurdistan region and the disputed areas.

The independence of Kurdistan is opposed not only by the Iraqi central government, but also by other countries as it would threaten the territorial integrity of Iraq and undermine the fight against the terror group Islamic State.

Iraq's neighboring countries, especially Turkey, Iran and Syria, fear that the Iraqi Kurds' pursuit of independence threatens their own territorial integrity by inspiring the Kurdish population in those countries to seek independence.