Iraqi–Kurdish conflict

Iraq's Kurdish regional government called on the outlawed Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK) to "withdraw" from Iraq's Kurdish territory Aug. 1 to prevent civilian deaths amid a campaign of Turkish airstrikes targeting the group.

Ongoing tension between Iraq's Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) is gradually growing, with the former accusing the latter of "treason" against the homeland.

The tension flared after Duran Kalkan, a key leader of the PKK, argued that "central dictatorship in South Kurdistan" is not viable.

Baghdad cut the budget payments in January 2014 over the semi-autonomous region's plans to export its oil through Turkey but reinstated them in December after the Kurds agreed to export an average of 550,000 barrels per day (bpd) from Ceyhan via Iraq's State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO) in 2015.

A top official of the Kurdish army stated that he has proof that ISIS used deadly gas attacks against Kurdish Peshmerga fighters in northern Iraq.

The Kurdish general claimed that his soldiers were exposed to the chemical substance in December.

After being stuck in legal limbo for six months, a tanker loaded with 1 million barrels of Kurdish crude headed east on Jan. 27 to leave U.S. waters after Baghdad and the Kurds reached a deal to share oil revenue.

Iraq's government reached a formal agreement on Dec. 2 with Kurdish regional authorities to end a protracted dispute over oil exports and budget payments to the semi-autonomous Kurdish region.

In addition to training troops, Turkey has sent weapons to the Iraqi Kurdish forces combating the Islamist militants who have swept across large parts of the country, Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Chief of Staff Fuad Hussein has said.

The Iraqi government transferred $500 million to the autonomous Kurdish region on Nov. 19 as part of a deal aimed at ending long-running oil and budget disputes, the finance minister said.
      

The Iraqi government and the autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in the north of the country have reached a deal to ease tensions over Kurdish oil exports and civil service payments from Baghdad, Iraq’s finance minister told Reuters on Nov. 13.