Kirkuk votes to take part in Kurdish referendum

KIRKUK, Iraq: The council in Kirkuk, an ethnically mixed region of northern Iraq under Baghdad’s control, voted on Tuesday to take part in next month’s Kurdish independence referendum, councillors said.

The central government in Baghdad is strongly opposed to Iraqi Kurdistan’s planned Sept. 25 referendum, which is non-binding but could lead to independence.

Kirkuk, an oil-rich province made up of Kurds, Arabs and Turkmen, is under Baghdad’s control but is claimed by the autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan region.

In Tuesday’s vote, 22 of the 24 present councillors in the 41-member Kirkuk council voted in favor of holding the referendum, said councillor Hala Nur Eddine.

Speaking to journalists afterwards, Kirkuk Gov. Najm Eddine Karim described the vote as a “historic event.”

But a spokesman for Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi denounced the vote as “illegal and unconstitutional.”

“Provinces that don’t belong to the autonomous region (of Kurdistan) can’t impose decisions without the federal government’s approval, and Kirkuk is one of these regions,” said Saad Al-Hadithi.

The plans to hold the referendum have been criticized by neighboring Turkey and Iran, which have large Kurdish minority populations.