At a Glance:

• A KRG delegation is in Baghdad to lock in 2027 budget rights and stipend equalization for political prisoners and martyrs' families.
• Erbil officially requested Baghdad to raise the retirement age from 60 to 65 for employed political prisoners.
• The delegation is meeting with federal foundations to manage financial rights and the repatriation of Anfal genocide victims' remains.
• Kurdish officials are meeting with Iraqi leaders Ammar al-Hakim and Nouri al-Maliki to secure cross-party legislative backing.

A high-level Kurdistan delegation is in Baghdad to secure financial entitlements and stipend equalization for over 25,000 political prisoners and martyrs' families in the 2027 budget, while the KRG has requested Baghdad to extend the retirement age for employed political prisoners from 60 to 65.

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Key Statements and Focus Area

• Ahmed Mam Rasool, the Director General of Political Prisoners' Affairs within the KRG Ministry of Martyrs and Anfal Affairs, informed Channel8 that the delegation traveled to Baghdad to conduct concrete follow-ups regarding the files of martyrs' families and the legal rights of political prisoners from the Kurdistan Region.
• The KRG Ministry of Finance and Economy stated that, “Through official letter No. (3488) dated (September 2, 2026), which we addressed to the Budget Department at the Federal Ministry of Finance, we requested that their retirement age and service period be extended from (60) years to (65) years.”

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In remarks to Channel8, Director General Ahmed Mam Rasool said today that the delegation is meeting with the Iraqi Martyrs Foundation regarding administrative procedures and the repatriation of the remains of Anfal genocide victims.

Rasool noted that the delegation is scheduled to meet with the Iraqi Political Prisoners Foundation to discuss securing financial entitlements within the 2027 draft budget.

He stressed that they are actively engaging with both governmental and political factions to secure full backing "to ensure that financial allocations for this segment are permanently anchored in the budget."

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Finance and Economy said in a statement that via official letter No. 3488, the KRG requested the Federal Budget Department to extend the retirement age from 60 to 65 for employed political prisoners from batches 9 to 15 born in 1965 and 1966.

“For their part, the Budget Department at the Federal Ministry of Finance, following up on the communication, forwarded the matter via letter No. (50407) on (September 24, 2026) to the National Pension Agency in order to take the necessary action,” the statement added.

FYI

As preparations intensify in Baghdad to finalize the draft of Iraq's 2027 federal general budget, negotiations between the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and the federal government have entered a critical phase to resolve long-standing financial disputes.

A senior technical delegation from the KRG Ministry of Finance and Economy concluded its third round of budgetary discussions in Baghdad. According to negotiating team members, the technical delegations reached a strong mutual understanding on securing the Kurdistan Region’s allocations within the 2027 draft text before it is officially submitted to the Iraqi Council of Ministers and Parliament.

The KRG's official 2027 budget demands focus on reversing austerity by securing a 14.14% population share, removing the restrictive "actual expenditure" clause, guaranteeing civil servant payrolls and promotions, and categorizing Peshmerga funding as a sovereign expense on par with the Iraqi Ministry of Defence.

These diplomatic maneuvers build upon a prior visit to Baghdad in late June by a Ministry of Martyrs and Anfal Affairs delegation, during which Kurdish officials submitted the files of 25,868 political prisoners to the Iraqi Political Prisoners Foundation to secure equalized monthly stipends and benefits.

Currently, officials from the Iraqi Martyrs Foundation and the Political Prisoners Foundation are scheduled to review the necessary legal and administrative mechanisms to formalize this process.

To build the required legislative consensus, the Kurdistan Region delegation is conducting a series of strategic meetings with influential political figures, including National Wisdom Movement leader Ammar al-Hakim and State of Law Coalition head Nouri al-Maliki, aiming to pave the way for the Council of Representatives and the federal government to officially approve these entitlements.

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