“Deep-rooted” differences.. The crisis between Baghdad and Erbil continues and needs a “magical” sol

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[size=52]“Deep-rooted” differences.. The crisis between Baghdad and Erbil continues and needs a “magical” solution[/size]

[size=45][You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]Disagreements between the federal government and the regional government are not new. Hardly a year passes in Iraq without a dispute arising between the two governments, most of which revolve around one point, which is “money.”[/size]
[size=45]For nearly twenty years, disputes have continued between the two sides, but they sometimes recede, especially during negotiations to form any new government, and then they begin to escalate little by little once a few months have passed since the formation of successive governments in the country.[/size]
[size=45]During the first years following the fall of the former Iraqi regime in 2003, the most prominent problem related to the disputed areas with the federal government, in addition to the issue of sharing oil and gas imports.[/size]
[size=45]Today, the Kurdistan Region employee salaries crisis is a real dilemma in light of the exchange of accusations between Baghdad and Erbil regarding who is obstructing hundreds of thousands of workers in the government sector in the region from receiving their monthly financial dues.[/size]
[size=45]The origin of the dispute:
To know the true picture of what is going on, it is useful to return to the origin of the dispute, which is developing day after day.[/size]
[size=45]In recent years, the Kurds have angered successive Shiite-led central governments by signing agreements on their own terms with international oil companies, including ExxonMobil, Total and Chevron Corp.[/size]
[size=45]Baghdad says it alone has the right to control the exploration and export of the world's fourth-largest oil reserves, while the Kurds insist that their right to do so is enshrined in Iraq's 2003 federal constitution.[/size]
[size=45]This tension continued for years before a fragile agreement was reached between the two sides in 2015, stipulating that the region hand over 250,000 barrels of oil per day to the Iraqi Oil Marketing Company “SOMO” in exchange for the government fixing the region’s financial dues in the 2020 budget, including employee salaries.[/size]
[size=45]But as usual, the two parties then accused each other of violating the agreement, and the dispute continued until the approval of this year’s budget last May.[/size]
[size=45]Under the new budget, the regional government reached an agreement with the Baghdad government to export the region’s oil through the central government, and in exchange for this, 12.6 percent of the federal budget will be allocated to Iraqi Kurdistan.[/size]
[size=45]Although the Baghdad government released 500 billion dinars (about 380 million dollars) for the salaries of the Kurdistan region last Sunday, correcting the situation requires double this amount per month, according to the Erbil government.[/size]
[size=45]In a press conference held on Wednesday, the President of the Kurdistan Region, Nechirvan Barzani, confirmed that the region fulfilled its obligations and dealt with Baghdad with the utmost transparency. On the other hand, Baghdad says that it has fulfilled all its financial obligations to the region.[/size]
[size=45]“The collapse of the region”
This crisis coincides with Turkey stopping Iraqi oil flows through the pipeline extending to the port of Ceyhan on March 25, after an arbitration panel affiliated with the International Chamber of Commerce ordered Ankara to pay compensation to Baghdad worth approximately $1.5 billion for the damage resulting from the Kurdistan Regional Government’s export. Oil illegally between 2014 and 2018.[/size]
[size=45]An analysis published by the American magazine “Foreign Policy” last month warned of the dangers of the continuation of the oil dispute between Iraq and Turkey and the possibility that its repercussions would lead to a civil war in the Kurdistan region, whose repercussions would extend to all parts of the country.[/size]
[size=45]Oil export revenues represent about 80 percent of the annual budget of the Kurdistan Regional Government, which means that it faces great risks if exports continue to stop, according to the analysis.[/size]
[size=45]The analysis indicated that the Turkish oil embargo has cost the Kurdistan Regional Government more than two billion dollars so far, indicating that its continuation could destroy the region's economy and may lead to the collapse of the Kurdistan Regional Government, which enjoys semi-autonomy.[/size]
[size=45]For many years, the KRG's economy has been suffering as a result of disputes with the federal government regarding the region's share of the budget.[/size]
[size=45]The regional authorities and the federal government reached an agreement stipulating that oil sales would be conducted through the Iraqi Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO) and that the revenues would be placed in a bank account managed by Erbil and supervised by Baghdad.[/size]
[size=45]But the resumption of exports is still on hold pending an agreement with Turkey.[/size]
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