[Turkish and Iraqi soldiers wait at the Habur Customs Gate before crossing into Iraq to take over the Ibrahim Khalil border gate from Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), in Silopi district, southwestern Turkey, Oct. 31, 2017. (DHA Photo)]
The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) transferred the control of Ibrahim Khalil Border Crossing, the main crossing between Turkey and Iraq, to the central government in Baghdad on Tuesday.
Turkey's official Anadolu Agency reported that Turkish and Iraqi military units, which have been conducting joint drills since Sept. 18, have left their barracks and moved towards the Iraqi side of the border.
Doğan News Agency reported that that the border gate will be handed over to Baghdad in a ceremony with the attendance of Iraqi Chief of Staff Osman al Ganimi and Lt. Gen. İsmail Temel, the commander of Turkey's Second Army which is in charge of guarding the country's southern and eastern borders with Syria, Iraq and Iran.
The border gate, which is located across the border from southeastern Turkey's Habur Customs Gate in Silopi district of Şırnak province, is of crucial importance for the bilateral trade between the two countries, including oil imports with tankers. The Kirkuk - Ceyhan oil pipeline connecting northern Iraqi oil fields with Turkish oil terminal in the Mediterranean also passes west of the border crossing before entering Turkey.
Following the controversial independence referendum in the KRG and disputed regions with Baghdad on Sept. 25, Iraqi forces and allied predominantly Shiite Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Forces) moved to force the KRG out of the disputed areas, which include oil-rich city of Kirkuk, the town of Khanaqin near the border with Iran and Sinjar near the border with Syria.
Baghdad also demanded Irbil to hand the control of all airports and customs gates, including Ibrahim Khalil, which had been under KRG control since 1991.
The move came after Iraqi and KRG officials met in Mosul to resolve the dispute with the U.S. mediating the talks.
Three Iraqi officials also confirmed to Reuters that the border gate has been brought under Iraqi control. One of the officials showed Reuters pictures of the Iraqi flag being raised at the border gate, where Iraqi and Turkish soldiers were deployed and Turkish flags also hoisted.
"We have raised the Iraqi flag over the border crossing with Turkey today and it is officially under the full control of the Iraqi government," said one of the officials, border police captain Ali Abdul Ilah.
However, Kurdish regional authorities denied the crossing had been handed over. "Negotiations are still ongoing," said a KRG official in the regional capital Erbil.
Amid heavy pressure from the international community on Iraq's neighbors, the KRG retreated from contested areas without significant resistance. However, Iraqi forces and KRG peshmerga units have been involved in clashes in the strategic area located northwest of Mosul, upstream of the Mosul Dam Lake on the Tigris River, which had been providing the KRG with connection to Syria and control over Iraq's connection to Turkey.
With the Turkish and Iraqi move, the supply line between the KRG and northeastern Syria, which is under control of PKK terror group's Syrian wing Democratic Union Party (PYD) will also be cut.
