Netanyahu backs Kurd independence

JERUSALEM — Israel’s leader said Wednesday that his country supports Kurdish independence ahead of a key referendum on the matter.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Israel considers the Kurdistan Workers’ Party a terrorist organization. But the statement said Israel “supports the legitimate efforts of the Kurdish people to attain a state of its own.”

Netanyahu’s statement appeared to be an attempt to distance Israel from comments by Yair Golan, who recently completed a term as Israel’s deputy military chief of staff.

At a conference in Washington last week, Golan said he did not consider the Workers’ Party, a militant group that has waged a three-decade insurgency in southeast Turkey, to be a terrorist organization. But Golan, too, voiced support for Kurdish independence.

The Kurds are spread across the region, with large populations in Iraq, Syria, Turkey and Iran.

Iraq’s Kurds plan to hold the referendum Sept. 25 in three governorates that make up their self-ruled region as well as in disputed areas that are controlled by Kurdish forces but claimed by Baghdad, including the oil-rich province of Kirkuk.

The vote is nonbinding, but Kurdish officials hope a strong victory will kick-start negotiations with the Baghdad government on independence. Still, there is no legal requirement or incentive for Baghdad to do so.

Mahmoud al-Hassan, a Shiite Iraqi lawmaker, said it was no surprise that Israel would back the Kurds.

“Of course Israel supports the division of Iraq and will be happy with tearing down Iraq. An integrated Iraq means a strong one and a possible threat to Israel,” he said.