President Masoud Barzani said the Kurdistan region is welcoming any attacks against the Islamic State, but Russian attacks are hurting the region by closing its airports.
"This issue needs to be solved and we ask Russia not to make problems for Kurdistan Region's airline,” Barzani announced during a press conference with German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Tuesday.
He said the Kurdistan Regional Government is in contact with Baghdad to resolve the problem of suspended flights at the International airports of Erbil and Sulaimani provinces due to Russian missile attacks against ISIS in Syria.
Barzani has welcomed Russian help for Peshmerga forces but said Russia has not yet been an active supporter.
"So far (Russia) has only sent a minimal number of weapons,” Barzani said.
Baghdad asked on late Sunday that the airports in Erbil and Sulaimani halt all flights for 48 hours in order to protect the safety of travelers.
"We have been informed by Baghdad to halt the flights because of Russian jets attacking Daesh (ISIS) in Syria. This is for the safety of travelers,” Talar Faiyq, head of Erbil International Airport, told Rudaw late Sunday.
She said all flights were halted for Monday and Tuesday and will not resume at least until Wednesday. This is the second time in less than a month that Baghdad halted flights in the Kurdistan region due to Russian attacks in northern Iraq airspace.
(Rudaw)
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