Knowing Kurdistan: 7 Days

CAIRO—18 September 2017: Iraqi Kurdistan’s electoral body has announced that it is removing the requirement for a ration card to be submitted as one of the documents needed by members of the diaspora in order to register for the e-vote. The Kurdish independence referendum will take place on September 25, with registration continuing until this date.

The condition for the ration card document was amended after calls for the change came from Kurds living in diaspora communities, Shirwan Zirar, the spokesperson for the independent High Elections and Referendum Commission (IHERC), announced on Monday.

Many Iraqi Kurds dwelling outside of Iraq have complained they did not have ration cards, preventing them from registering to vote.


People celebrate to show their support for the upcoming September 25th independence referendum in Kirkuk, Iraq September 11, 2017. REUTERS/Ako Rasheed


Vice-President Nouri al-Maliki has condemned the Kurdish independence referendum.
“We will not allow the creation of a second Israel in the north of Iraq,” said the former Prime Minister at a meeting with U.S. Ambassador Douglas Silliman, in a statement released by the Vice President’s office.

However, it is possible to draw stronger comparisons between the struggles of the Kurds and that of the Palestinians. Although Iraq has continually provided political support to the Palestinians – as well as military support in 1948, 1967, and 1973 – Kurdish independence is not in Iraq’s interest, and thus this comparison is wholly overlooked.

Iran has threatened to close its border gates with the Kurdistan Region if the independence referendum goes ahead as planned.

“The republic of Iran has opened its legitimate border gates on the premise of consent of the federal government of the Iraqi state. If such an event [a referendum] happens, these border gates –from the perspective of the Islamic Republic of Iran— would lose its legitimacy,” Ali Shamkhani, the head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, told Iranian state news agency IRIB on Sunday.

Additionally, Iran has threatened to withdraw its diplomatic mission in Kurdistan and to intervene militarily across and beyond its border with Kurdistan if the Kurdish leaders decide to go ahead with the scheduled referendum for independence.

If Kurdistan holds the referendum, then Iran would have the right to intervene militarily “deeper beyond the border areas” in the fight against ‘terrorism.’




Kurdish Peshmerga forces celebrate Newroz Day, a festival marking spring and the New Year, in Kirkuk on March 20, 2017. REUTERS/Ako Rasheed.


In other developments, Turkey began military exercises on the border with the Kurdish region on Monday, as a threat to the Kurds for their planned independence referendum.

Washington D.C. joined a number of cities around the world, including London and Beirut, where rallies were held on Sunday in support of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region’s upcoming independence referendum on September 25.

In D.C., a message from President Barzani was read for the crowd by Bayan Sami Abdul Rahman: “The United States is our friend and ally in the fight against terrorism.” It explained “that friendship should be reflected in principles and values.”

“Our nation, like the United States of America and any other nation in the world, yells for freedom, democracy and independence.”

In other news:

The Kurdistan Regional Government has made an agreement with Rosneft, a large Russian energy firm, to extend a pipeline exporting natural gas from the Kurdistan Region to Turkey, according to a Reuters report.

Two sources close to the deal told Reuters the investments would amount to more than $1 billion.

The construction of the pipeline will commence in 2019, with the export of Kurdistan’s natural gas through the pipeline beginning in 2020.

“The pipeline’s capacity is expected to handle up to 30 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas exports a year, in addition to supplying domestic users,” Reuters reported.

Kurdish President Masoud Barzani explained that the deal was just an initial agreement.

“It was signed as a Memorandum of Understanding, but this is an understanding that possibly is more than 200-pages long and needs very careful [study] and it may take three to four months before we can say that it will come into effect, because it takes time,” Barzani said.

The abundance of resources in the Iraqi Kurdish region is a major factor for why its separation from Iraq is contentious, and the KRG will require the development of Kurdistan’s natural resources as a stable and significant source of income.

Join Egypt Today as we bring you daily updates and analysis of the upcoming independence referendum in Iraqi Kurdistan.

We would like to thank Elizabeth Racine for attending the rally and sharing her photos with Egypt Today.



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