Iraq’s Kurdish government defies calls to halt referendum

The government of Iraqi Kurdistan yesterday vowed to take all measures necessary to ensure its highly contested independence vote would be held as scheduled on Monday.

The Kurdish high referendum council announced that “the vote will take place on September 25” despite international appeals to cancel or postpone the poll.

Led by the president of Iraqi Kurdistan, Masoud Barzani, the council reiterated “that as time is running out and no alternative has been offered to replace the referendum and guarantee independence, the vote will be held on time”.

The statement pointed that “if a guarantee for independence is not given to replace the referendum [in the next few days] then the vote will take place on time as planned”.

Turkey, Iraq and Iran’s foreign ministers voiced concerns that the referendum would ignite new conflicts in the region while endangering gains Iraq has made against ISIL extremists.

And the US has said it strongly opposes the referendum and has branded it “unnecessary”.

The foreign ministers from Iran, Turkey and Iraq – Mohammed Javad Zarif, Mevlut Cavusoglu and Ibrahim Al Jaafari – said any conflicts arising as a result of the referendum would “prove difficult to contain”.

In a rare trilateral meeting in New York the ministers threatened to take counter measures if Kurdistan goes ahead with the vote.

They also emphasised that the referendum will not be beneficial for the Kurds and the Kurdish Regional Government. But their statement gave no details of the possible measures but said the ministers called on the international community to intervene.

Ankara and Tehran fear independence for the Kurds of northern Iraq would embolden their own Kurdish minorities, and Baghdad has bitterly opposed the poll.

The three states reaffirmed their commitment to Iraq’s territorial integrity and stated their “unequivocal opposition to the referendum”.

Iraq’s Kurds are determined to go ahead with the vote, which, although non-binding,

could trigger the process of separation in a country already divided along sectarian and ethnic lines.

Mr Al Jaafari released a statement after the meeting, concluding that “Iraq, Turkey, and Iran maintain the unconstitutionality of the referendum while agreeing to take counter measures in co-ordination with each other”.

Mr Al Jaafari also called for further dialogue and negotiation between Erbil and Baghdad within the framework of the Iraqi constitution to resolve the disputes.

Mr Barzani insists on holding the vote, stating that the “referendum would only be postponed should the Kurds receive an alternative guaranteeing independence for the Kurdistan region in the coming years”.

“The people of the Kurdistan region have the right to peacefully and democratically decide on their future – whether they want to remain part of Iraq or secede. Self-determination is the fundamental principle of international law and the UN charter,” Mr Barzani has previously said.

On Wednesday, the prime minister of Iraqi Kurdistan, Necirvan Barzani, said that the aim of independence was based on the aspirations of the Kurdish people to attain freedom and to draw their borers.

Mr Barzani said that serious dialogue between Erbil and Baghdad was needed.

Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has threatened to impose sanctions on Kurdish northern Iraq, where Ankara’s troops are carrying out military exercises close to the Turkey-Iraq border.