Iraqi Kurdistan Risk Management Report: Kurds angry at draft budget as pipeline to Turkey readies for exports

Tensions between the autonomous Kurdish region and Baghdad remain one of the most pressing issues for Iraq. The 2005 constitution stipulated that Iraqi Kurdistan, which has an identity very distinct from Iraq, is a federal entity recognised by Iraq and the United Nations, and the 2010 Erbil agreement with Baghdad outlined how power would be shared. But the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) has protested at its lack of implementation, and relations with Baghdad are highly acrimonious. Kurdish President Massoud Barzani has threatened to hold a referendum on independence, saying federal Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki has breached the constitution by assuming too many powers. “The same individual holds the powers of prime minister, commander-in-chief of the armed forces, defence minister, chief of intelligence and interior minister. The central bank may soon be under his purview as well,” he said in 2012.