ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) on Sunday said that the Iraqi constitution laments the right of the Region to the newfound oil and gas fields, calling for a long-due referendum in disputed territories as per article 140 of the constitution.

“According to articles 110 and 115 of the 2005 Iraqi Constitution, the KRG is given absolute and exclusive rights to manage newfound oil and gas fields” the statement read, adding that “article 112 states that the older oil and gas fields, like Kirkuk’s fields, must be jointly managed by the Iraqi and Kurdish governments. And Baghdad has been obligated to come to an agreement with the Kurdistan Region for sharing of previously found (older) fields.” 

The statement comes amid disputes over budget and civil servant salary issues between Iraq and the Kurdistan Region.

Salaries of the Kurdistan Region’s civil servants and the Region’s share of the federal budget have long been a point of contention between the federal and regional governments. As of the time of this writing, the KRG has not been able to pay its civil servants their December 2024 salaries, citing Baghdad’s refusal to send the agreed-upon amount for said salaries.

Years of conflict and unresolved issues between Erbil and Baghdad, and economic sanctions and pressure on Erbil by federal authorities, have pushed employees in the Region to live from paycheck to paycheck.

The KRG’s financial crisis was exacerbated in the wake of the halt of the Kurdistan Region’s oil exports following a court ruling on a dispute between Iraq and Turkey over Erbil’s independent oil sales.

Exports of the Kurdistan Region’s oil through the Turkish Ceyhan pipeline, where part of Kirkuk’s oil was also exported through, were halted in March 2023 after Ankara lost a case against Baghdad in a Paris-based arbitration court. The case accused Ankara of breaching a 1973 agreement by allowing the KRG to start selling oil independent of Baghdad.

“According to article 140 of the Iraqi constitution of 2005, a referendum must be carried out in Kirkuk and other disputed areas, the federal government was obligated to carry out this process before December 31, 2007,” the statement read, adding that “in the last twenty years, every cabinet of the Iraqi government has completely failed in carrying out the referendum process.”

Kirkuk, known for its numerous oil resources, has been the central point in a long-standing dispute between Iraq and the Kurdistan region over a stretch of land, with both sides laying claim to the city for decades now.

The KRG added that “it considers it a constitutional right to take various available measures to defend their constitutional rights, and work on enforcing laws to defend the constitutional rights of Kurdistan and Kirkuk’s people.”