Kurds set to vote for split with Iraq
Fears more conflict could result
VOTING began in northern Iraq yesterday in an independence referendum organised by Kurdish authorities, ignoring pressure from Baghdad, threats from neighouring Turkey and Iran, and international warnings it may ignite more conflict.
The vote, expected to deliver a comfortable “yes” for independence, is not binding. However, it is designed to give Massoud Barzani, who heads the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), a mandate to negotiate the secession of the oil-producing region with Baghdad and neighbouring states.
For Iraqi Kurds – the largest ethnic group left stateless when the Ottoman empire collapsed a century ago – the referendum offers a historic opportunity despite the intense international pressure to call it off.
“We have seen worse, we have seen injustice, killings and blockades,” said Talat, waiting to cast a vote in the regional capital of Erbil, as a group of smiling women, in traditional colourful Kurdish dress, emerged from the school after voting.
The Kurds also say the vote acknowledges their crucial contribution in confronting Islamic State after it overwhelmed the Iraqi army in 2014 and seized control of a third of Iraq.
But with roughly 30 million ethnic Kurds scattered over international borders across the region, Tehran and Ankara fear the spread of separatism to their own Kurdish populations.
The US State Department warned the KRG last week that “holding the referendum in disputed areas is particularly provocative and destabilising”.
The KRG is holding the referendum not only in the long-standing Kurdish autonomous region of Iraq, but also in wider areas in the north of the country into which its forces have advanced in the fight to defeat Islamic State. These areas also have large non-Kurdish populations.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry said Ankara did not recognise the referendum and would view its outcome as null and void, adding that the Iraqi Kurdish government was threatening the peace and stability of Iraq and the whole region.
Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said his government was evaluating steps regarding its border gates with northern Iraq and air space in response to the vote.
Ankara would make decisions in more direct talks with the Iraqi central government after the referendum, adding that economic, political, diplomatic and military steps were being discussed, he said in an interview with Turkish broadcasters.
Ankara’s forces are again fighting a Kurdish insurgency in Turkey following the collapse of a peace process.
Polling stations opened their doors at 8am and were due to close at 6pm. The final results should be announced within 72 hours.
The voting is open to all registered residents, Kurds and non-Kurds, in the Kurdish-held areas of northern Iraq aged 18 and over, according to the referendum commission.
The commission estimates the number of eligible voters at 5.2 million, including those living abroad, who started casting electronic ballots two days ago.
Voters should tick “yes” or “no” on the ballot asking them one question in Kurdish, Turkish, Arabic and Assyrian: “Do you want the Kurdistan Region and Kurdistani areas outside the (Kurdistan) Region to become an independent country?”
Iran declared a ban on flights to and from Kurdistan on Sunday, while Baghdad asked foreign countries to stop direct oil trading with the autonomous region and demanded that the KRG hands over control of its international airports and border posts with Iran, Turkey and Syria.
Tehran supports Shia groups who have been ruling or holding security and government positions in Iraq since the US-led invasion which toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003.