Iraq’s Kurds set for contentious referendum vote
ERBIL: Iraqi Kurds were preparing to vote in a referendum set for Monday on independence for their autonomous northern region, despite warnings within the country and from neighbours Iran and Turkey.
Iran upped the pressure on Sunday, announcing it had blocked all flights to and from Kurdistan at Baghdad’s request.
Iraq’s federal government has called the referendum unconstitutional and there are concerns the vote could lead to unrest.
The US and many Western countries have also called for its postponement or cancellation, saying it will hamper the fight against the Islamic State.
But in regional capital Erbil, the political heartland of President Massud Barzani who initiated the referendum, Kurdish flags were everywhere.
Most in the city said they would vote, but some also feared the possible consequences.
Iran and Turkey have sizeable Kurdish populations of their own and fear the vote will stoke separatist aspirations at home.
Iran’s official IRNA news agency cited a security spokesman Sunday as saying: “At the request of the central government of Iraq, all flights from Iran to Sulaymaniyah and Arbil, as well as all flights through our airspace originating from the Kurdistan region, have been stopped.”
Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim again denounced the referendum on Sunday, saying it would “further fuel existing instability, lack of authority and chaos in the region”.
Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards also began military exercises Sunday along the border with Iraqi Kurdistan.
Such exercises are common in the region, due to the persistent threat posed by Kurdish separatists, who regularly carry out cross-border attacks against Iranian security forces.
Some five million Kurds are expected to vote in the three provinces that have since 2003 formed the autonomous region of Kurdistan but also in territories disputed with Baghdad such as the oil-rich province of Kirkuk.