Baghdad cranks up pressure on KRG with flight ban

All foreign flights to and from the Kurdish Regional Government's (KRG) capital Erbil will be suspended from Friday, officials said, as relations between the KRG in northern Iraq and Baghdad have soured after a controversial referendum.

The move marks the first major step taken in retaliation for Monday's vote, which delivered a resounding 92.7 percent "yes".

More than 3.3 million people, or 72 percent of eligible voters, took part in Monday's ballot, according to the electoral commission.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al Abadi has demanded the KRG cede control of Erbil and Sulaymaniyah airports by Friday or face a suspension of direct international flights to and from the northern Iraq region.

The KRG has offered to hold talks with the central government about hosting Iraqi observers at KRG airports to help defuse a crisis triggered by the vote, Kurdish Rudaw TV said on Wednesday.

Rudaw quoted Kurdish Transport Minister Mowlud Murad as saying Kurdish authorities of the the semi-autonomous region were "willing to hold talks with the Iraqi government about sending observers to the international airports of Erbil and Sulaymaniyah." 

Erbil airport director Talar Faiq Salih told AFP that all international flights to and from the city would stop from 1500 GMT (6:00 pm) on Friday following a decision by the Iraqi cabinet.

Regional carriers, including Turkish Airlines, EgyptAir and Lebanon's Middle East Airlines, had already announced that they would be suspending their flights serving the KRG at Baghdad's request.

Baghdad heaped pressure on northern Iraq on Wednesday, demanding they cancel their overwhelming vote for independence while parliament urged the Iraqi central government to send troops to take control of vital oilfields held by Kurdish forces.

Kurdish authorities rejected Baghdad's demands that they should annul the referendum as a condition for dialogue and hand over control of their international airports.

Stepping up efforts to isolate autonomous Kurdish-held northern Iraq, Baghdad demanded foreign governments close their diplomatic missions in KRG’s capital Erbil.

TRT World’s Iolo ap Dafydd is in Erbil with the latest.

Border security

Turkey is determined to conduct its dealings in Iraq with the central government after the referendum and the two countries' prime ministers will meet soon, government spokesman Bekir Bozdag said on Thursday.

Bozdag, also a deputy prime minister, said in an interview with broadcaster TGRT that the Turkish armed forces' training of Iraqi Kurdish peshmerga fighters had been terminated and that further steps would follow in response to the referendum.

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on Thursday that Turkey will not shy away from giving the harshest response to a national security threat on its border, but that is not its first choice after this week's referendum.

Speaking in the central Turkish province of Corum, Yildirim said Turkey, Iran and Iraq were doing their best to overcome the crisis caused by the referendum with the minimum damage. 

Turkey, which has threatened to impose sanctions on the Kurds, said its border with northern Iraq remained open, although it may not remain so. 

The number of trucks passing through had however decreased.

Retaliatory measures

The referendum has stirred fears of a new regional conflict.

An Iraqi armed forces delegation headed to neighbouring Iran to coordinate military efforts, apparently as part of retaliatory measures taken by the government in Baghdad following the vote.

Iran and Turkey also oppose any move towards Kurdish secession and their armies have started joint exercises near their borders with the Iraqi semi-autonomous Kurdish region in recent days.

Iraq and Turkey have also held joint military drills.

Airlines suspend flights

Foreign airlines began suspending flights to Kurdish airports after the Iraqi Civil Aviation Authority said on Wednesday that international flights to Erbil and Sulaymaniyah would be suspended.

Qatar Airways is cancelling flights to northern Iraq from September 29 to October 1 at the request of Iraq's Civil Aviation Authority, the carrier said on its website on Thursday.

The flights to and from Erbil and Sulaymaniyah have been cancelled after Iraqi authorities said all international air traffic would be suspended from Friday to those airports, the statement said.

Lebanon's Middle East Airlines (MEA) will suspend flights to and from Erbil airport in northern Iraq from Friday, MEA Chairman Mohammad al Hout said by phone.

"For now, we're stopping. The last flight is on the 29th, until they solve the issue," he said on Wednesday. 

Egypt's flag carrier EgyptAir will suspend flights to and from Erbil airport in northern Iraq from Friday, two company sources said on Wednesday.

Tehran also announced a ban on direct flights to and from northern Iraq on Sunday at the request of the central government in Baghdad and called for a land blockade of the autonomous region by all neighbouring countries.

Reactions over Iraqi border

For their part, Kurdish leaders in neighbouring Syria said the KRG referendum could bolster their cause for autonomy in negotiations with the Damascus government.

Two meetings so far on the matter had gone nowhere, they said.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin, who have stressed the need for Iraq's borders to remain unchanged, will meet in Ankara on Thursday.

Russia's interest in the region is growing.

Russia's Rosneft oil company is increasing investment in the Kurdish region of northern Iraq and the Kurds have been developing strong ties with Moscow.

The Russian Foreign Ministry warned Iraq and the Kurds against taking any steps that might destabilize the Middle East after the referendum.

The United States, major European countries and nearby Turkey and Iran strongly opposed the referendum, which they described as destabilizing at a time when all sides are still fighting against Daesh.

The US State Department said it was "deeply disappointed" by the decision to conduct the referendum, while the EU regretted the Kurds had failed to heed its call to cancel the vote.

Disputed areas

The Kurds consider Monday's referendum to be a historic step in a generations-old quest for a state of their own.

But Baghdad considers the vote unconstitutional, especially as it was held not only within official KRG territory itself but also on disputed territory held by Kurds elsewhere in northern Iraq.

The outcome has caused anger in Baghdad, where parliament, in a session boycotted by Kurdish lawmakers, asked Prime Minister Haider al Abadi to send troops to the Kurdish-held region of Kirkuk to take control of its oil fields.

Kurdish Peshmerga forces took Kirkuk, a multi-ethnic region, in 2014 when the Iraqi army fled in the face of Daesh which overran about a third of Iraq.

"The government has to bring back the oilfields of Kirkuk under the control of the oil ministry," the resolution backed by parliament in Baghdad said.

The area, long claimed by the Kurds, is also home to Turkmen and Arab communities, who opposed the independence vote, although the KRG included the area in the referendum.

Mandate for negotiations

Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani has said the vote is not binding, but meant to provide a mandate for negotiations with Baghdad and neighbouring countries over the peaceful secession of the region from Iraq.

Baghdad has rejected talks.

Abadi is under pressure to take punitive measures against the Kurds.

The Kurds say the referendum acknowledges their contribution in confronting Daesh after it overwhelmed the Iraqi army.