“Local Kurdish authorities [have] accepted that central authorities retake control of the two airports,” the statement said. Kurdish authorities confirmed that airports in Iraqi Kurdistan will return to federal Iraqi control and would report to Baghdad’s Interior Ministry. All Kurdistan-bound international flights are currently being rerouted to Baghdad, which has imposed entry visas on foreigners visiting the Kurdish region. “The opening of Kurdish airports to international flights is an important step,” Nechirvan Barzani, the prime minister of the Iraqi Kurdistan region, told a news conference, according to Kurdish Rudaw TV. Blockade in response to referendumBaghdad imposed the blockade in September after Iraqi Kurdistan voted for independence in a non-binding referendum.

Source: Egypt Independent March 14, 2018 04:18 UTC