Iraq parliament urges return of Kirkuk oil to Baghdad

By Haydar Hadi

BAGHDAD (AA) - The Iraqi parliament on Monday called for handing over the oil fields in the disputed Kirkuk city to the central government in Baghdad.

Speaking at a press conference in Baghdad, MP Hakim Zamili said lawmakers approved a resolution according to which oil fields in Kirkuk would be handed over to Baghdad.

He said the resolution also calls for state officials, who take part in the Kurdish referendum on the secession of northern Iraq’s Kurdish region, to be dismissed.

The move comes as voters in the areas under the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG), including disputed areas between Baghdad and Erbil, voted on Monday in a referendum on whether to secede from Iraq.

Baghdad, Turkey, Iran, the U.S., and the UN have all spoken out against the poll, saying it would distract from the ongoing fight against Daesh and further destabilize the region.

Turkey on Monday announced it would regard the results of the Kurdish referendum as “null and void” and Iraq’s central government has threatened to intervene militarily if the vote leads to violence.

KRG President Masoud Barzani has said a “Yes” win would not result in an automatic declaration of independence but would simply lead to further negotiations with Baghdad.