Iraqi Kurds prepare for referendum

OTTAWA — As the federal government considers the future of Canada’s military mission against Islamic State militants, there are growing concerns about a new battle brewing in Iraq.

The feared new conflagration revolves around the question of Kurdish independence, which has been bubbling for years but appears ready to boil over.

Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government announced earlier this month that after years of promising a referendum on independence, it would finally hold a vote on Sept. 25.

Planning is now underway despite fierce objections from Iraq’s central government in Baghdad, as well as opposition from the U.S., some European countries and most of Iraq’s neighbours.

Canada has taken a decidedly low-key approach to the referendum.

Global Affairs Canada spokesperson Jocelyn Sweet referred in a statement on Monday to Canada’s long-standing commitment “to the unity and diversity” of Iraq, as well as its “territorial integrity.”

But she did not specifically mention the planned referendum, and a government official confirmed Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland has not raised it with Kurdish officials. The plan to hold a referendum comes as the threat of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant is receding.