ERBIL (Sputnik) – Iraqi Kurdistan will not give control over its border crossings to the Iraqi federal government, local media reported citing sources on Friday.
"Not a single border crossing will be placed under control of the Iraqi side," a source told the Rudaw television channel.
Earlier in the day, Baghdad said that three military convoys would be sent to Iraqi Kurdistan in order to establish control over the border crossings located in Iraqi Kurdistan.
The Iraqi demand to transfer the control over the border crossings from Erbil to Baghdad followed the Monday independence referendum in Iraqi Kurdistan. On Wednesday, the Iraqi authorities also ordered to stop all international flights through the airports of Erbil and Sulaymaniyah.
On Monday, Iraqi Kurdistan, as well as a number of areas officially controlled by the Iraqi authorities, held the referendum on the independence from Baghdad. According to the Independent High Elections and Referendum Commission, 92.7 percent of voters supported the independence of Iraqi Kurdistan.
The independence vote in Iraqi Kurdistan had been widely criticized not only by Iraq itself, but also by Iran, the United States and the United Nations.
