WHY ARE KRG LOBBYISTS ANGRY WITH BAGHDAD?

When the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) declared and conducted its unilateral referendum for independence, the Federal Government of Iraq treated this unconstitutional act as a pivotal moment that required a complete revision of its policies toward the many past unilateral acts of the KRG. The Iraqi Government, joined by every key international actor, rejected the referendum and refused to deal with its results. This was, and still is, the position of the United States, Europe, Russia, the United Nations, as well as regional countries whose national interests, security, and stability are directly affected by the future of the northern Iraqi region, especially Turkey and Iran.

The Iraqi Federal Government realized that tolerating KRGs violations of the Iraqi Constitution have created certain facts on the ground that were used later to justify more steps toward independence. The most obvious example of such cases is the referendum of 25 September 2017. The KRG took advantage of the ISIS crisis and sent its forces to disputed territories where it has no official jurisdiction, a move the federal government accepted as part of a joint effort to fight terrorism, but the KRG used this presence later to include these territories in the referendum as if they were KRG territories. This measure was rejected by the federal government and the rest of the world, including the United States . Other examples of such violations are KRGs exporting of oil without the approval of the federal government, taking control of border crossings without transparency or sharing the revenues with Baghdad, and controlling the airports in Erbil and Sulaimaniyah. The KRG unilaterally and unconstitutionally issued its own visas and residency permits without going through the proper processes of the Federal Government of Iraq and, often times, against its will, including permits to people who are wanted by the Iraqi authorities for corruption or terrorism-related crimes. Article 121 of the the Iraqi Constitution clearly states that The regional powers shall have the right to exercise executive, legislative, and judicial powers in accordance with this Constitution, except for those authorities stipulated in the exclusive authorities of the federal government. Among the exclusive authorities the Constitution reserves to the federal government, according to Article 110, is Regulating issues of citizenship, naturalization, residency, and the right to apply for political asylum. This is hardly an issue that needs to be discussed, as it is common practice in all members of the United Nations to reserve visa granting to the sovereign government, not to local authorities, without a direct authorization from the sovereign government.

Baghdads government had very few options to deal with the KRG violations of this clearly-stipulated exclusive federal prerogative. Other than sending troops to enforce the law inside the northern region, which is a sovereign right the federal government voluntarily chose not to exercise to avoid violence against its own citizens, other options included obtaining a ruling from the Iraqi Supreme Court, which still would need to be enforced by military means, since the KRG would not abide by it voluntarily. The only option left for Baghdad was to exercise its sovereign authority and close the air space to incoming and outgoing international flights that use the airports in Erbil and Sulaymaniyah. As another good-will gesture, the federal government made exceptions for humanitarian, diplomatic and domestic flights, demonstrating that the issue is not a blockade or collective punishment of the Kurds, but the only available non-violent measure to control who gets in and outside Iraq.

So why do we read this scathing criticism against the Iraqi Government, and who are the main critics? Well, it so happens that many of the outspoken critics are those who used to fly in and out of the KRG-controlled airports without having to ask for permission from the sovereign government of Iraq: journalists, think-tank researchers, lobbyists, businessmen, political operatives, consultants and without a doubt, other people who have nefarious motives to enter Iraq without having to go through the federal governments security database. It is not a surprise that you criticize the Baghdad government if you suffer a major inconvenience from its exercise of sovereignty when you lose your illegal visa, which you got from an unauthorized local booth in the KRG, or if lost an illegal residency permit to make money as a consultant or to establish some sort of field-experience credentials to write KRG-financed propaganda and feed it to unsuspected Western governments and non-government entities as research analysis or expert opinion. It is also not against the business ethics of the lobbying industry, it seems, to take KRG money and write opinion articles in major Western and regional media to criticize the federal government of Iraq and support the KRG position by using fact-free arguments or half-facts, at best. But, then, someone has to explain to the unsuspecting audience, that its not a question of democracy or peoples freedom to travel, otherwise we would see more criticism of the authoritarianism in Erbil. It is certainly not personal either. It is strictly business.