In his weekly press conference on Thursday, Dr. Jutiar Adel, the Kurdistan Region Government Spokesman, elaborated on the latest discussions of the Council of Ministers on February first.

Explaining several political, economic, and legal matters, Dr. Adel said: “Despite the Federal Court’s opposing decision, negotiation with Baghdad will be continuing.” He explained that: “In the Council of Ministers' meeting, discussions focused on the necessity of the negotiations between the Kurdistan Region and Baghdad to be continued. In these negotiations, requests will be made to implement the budget bill, article 140 and some other lawmaking within the framework of constitution, especially the matter related to the unlawfulness of federal court and its constituents as the court’s past decisions were aimed at increasing pressures on Kurdistan.”

Dr. Adel said: “We reiterate on the importance of agreement between the Kurdistan Region and Baghdad; Kurdistan Region is serious on the matter. No excuses remain for Baghdad not to reach a deal with the KRG. It has been a while now since some data— in collaboration with Iraq and Kurdistan Region’s supervision diwan—made available and assessed carefully. Meanwhile, cooperation was made, and information delivered on oil and budget.”

He added: “In multiple meetings, KRG called on Baghdad to provide compensation for people in Kurdistan who suffered mentally, financially, and physically from the previous regime. This is KRG’s duty to request for compensation and people in Kurdistan must receive an apology.”

Regarding the payments, the KRG spokesman promised a regular payment to government employees. “With or without the 200 billion Iraqi Dinar share of Kurdistan, we paid and will continue to pay our employees, but this money belongs to the people of Kurdistan and the Iraqi government must fulfil its financial responsibilities.”

On the distribution of Kerosene oil, Dr. Adel announced: “Until now, more than 64 million liters of Kerosene were distributed among people in Kurdistan. Today, they started to distribute the other two million liters sent by Baghdad. Some charity organizations also deal with this subject, but none of them are linked to the oil that KRG is distributing and continues to distribute. In collaboration with the Ministry of Natural Resources, a report will be prepared on the price of a barrel of oil in the Kurdistan Region. But people should know that due to the pressures created by Baghdad against the Kurdistan Region, the cost of producing a barrel of oil is increasing, and as a result the KRG’s revenue will be decreased. People should see that these pressures harm residents of Kurdistan.”

Responding to reporters’ questions regarding dollar smuggling to outside of Iraq, the KRG spokesman explained: “We take legal steps, collaborate, and support the Iraqi government in preventing this phenomenon. But we must not forget that liquidity policy is under the command of the federal government. Meanwhile, we are assisting the Iraqi government to stop the violations within the framework of law.”