Iraqi PM demands invalidation of Kurdish referendum
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has demanded the annulment of this week’s referendum of the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region amid soaring tensions between the central government in Baghdad and local Kurdish authorities.
“The referendum must be annulled and dialogue initiated in the framework of the constitution. We will never hold talks based on the results of the referendum,” Abadi said on Wednesday, Press TV reported.
He added, “We will impose Iraqi law in the entire region of Kurdistan under the constitution.”
Abadi has described the vote as illegal and unconstitutional, stressing that its results would not serve as the basis for talks.
The developments come as low-cost airline FlyDubai says it may suspend service to Erbil from Saturday on, after Iraq called on international carriers to halt flights to the Kurdish region following the referendum.
The carrier said in a statement to The Associated Press on Wednesday that its Friday flight will operate as scheduled.
“We are aware of the situation and are liaising with our local representative regarding our operations from Saturday,” the statement read.
Earlier, the Iraqi Civil Aviation Authority sent a notice to foreign airlines, telling them that international flights to Erbil and Sulaymaniyah would be suspended at 1500 GMT on Friday, and only domestic flights allowed.
Both Lebanon's Middle East Airlines and EgyptAir have announced that they would halt flights to Erbil this week at the request of Baghdad.
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