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Baghdad seeks concessions before negotiating with Kurds

Baghdad is demanding more than the Kurdistan Regional Government may be willing to give before the two sides can even begin talks to resolve their disputes.
Nechirvan Barzani, prime minister of Iraq's Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), speaks during a press conference in the northern Iraqi city of Arbil, the capital of the autonomous Kurdistan region, on November 6, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / SAFIN HAMED        (Photo credit should read SAFIN HAMED/AFP/Getty Images)
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Trying to jump-start discussions with Iraq's central government, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in Erbil recently announced it will respect the Iraqi Federal Court's ecision that the KRG independence referendum was unconstitutional. But Baghdad has amplified its demands for opening a dialogue, which makes negotiations unlikely to happen anytime soon.

The Kurdish independence referendum, which voters overwhelmingly approved in September, greatly escalated problems between Baghdad and the KRG. However, both sides have called for negotiations to resolve the issues based on the Iraqi Constitution. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has said Baghdad is continuing to work toward putting into effect some articles of the constitution that have never been implemented and would benefit the Kurds, while at the same time returning federal sovereignty to all areas of Iraq.

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