War of words heats up over referendum
Kurdish officials express dismay at the lack of support they have found internationally
The president of Iraq’s Kurdish region warned on Friday that the Kurds might be forced to retaliate if the central government persists with what his spokesman called a “very aggressive” stance toward the pro-independence referendum.
Overseas flights were cancelled on Friday from the international airport in Arbil, hours before a ban by the Iraqi government took effect, while officials in Baghdad warned that land borders might also be closed. There were also reports of some internal highway closures.
“We are hopeful that these are all temporary measures,” said Vahal Ali, director of communications in the office of Massoud Barzani, the Kurdish region’s president. “We want this to be a peaceful transition, but if Baghdad decides not, there is a lot we can also do.”
Ali was critical of threats by Baghdad to ask Turkey to cut a vital oil pipeline, which provides most of the estimated $8 billion (Dh29.36 billion) the Kurdish region earns annually from oil revenues, and a request from the Iraqi parliament to move troops into the oil-rich, Kurdish-held city of Kirkuk. “Baghdad’s response to the referendum was very aggressive, so we don’t know what will happen,” the spokesman said.
“President Barzani was obligated to conduct the referendum and now is obligated to respond to that result,” Ali said. “We’ve repeatedly said we can negotiate, but that has to be on the question of independence.”
Kurdish officials have expressed dismay at the lack of support they have found internationally, with the United States and other powers, as well as the United Nations, critical of the decision to even hold the referendum and none expressing approval for the pro-independence result.
Hoshyar Zebari, who helped lead the referendum drive in the Kurdish region and was formerly Iraq’s foreign minister, said that criticism of the vote from the United States had “emboldened Baghdad” to take a hardline position towards the Kurds. Baghdad’s threatened retaliation was, he said, “very damaging and provocative, and illogical and destructive.”
Ali said the Kurds were hopeful that international allies would eventually come around to the idea of Kurdish independence. He cited, for instance, Chuck Schumer of New York, the minority leader in the US Senate, who on Wednesday praised the Kurdish independence vote.