Knowing Kurdistan: 6 Days

Cairo - 19 September 2017:The Kurdish Region’s independence referendum being held in disputed areas, such as the oil-rich Kirkuk, as well as the Kurdistan Region proper, will not be definite in defining the borders of Kurdistan if the ‘Yes’ vote prevails, Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani told Russia Today in an interview published on Monday.

“The referendum will not define the boundaries of the Kurdistan region,” said Nechirvan Barzani. “This can only be achieved through serious dialogue with Baghdad.”

The political situation in the contended areas should have been concluded in 2007, when a referendum should have taken place to determine whether these disputed areas should join the Kurdish region, as stipulated in Article 140 of the constitution.

“We are not planning to impose one-sided or a unilateral solution to that of Kirkuk,” said Nechirvan Barzani. “The people of Kurdistan and the Kurds in particular do not want to impose our will on the populations and other ethnicities in this region – such as Arabs, Turkmens, Christians and all other components in various areas that are living within these borders.”

Throughout the pre-referendum process thus far, Kurdish officials have observed a democratic attitude, voicing the desire to allow the people to choose; a refreshing rhetoric, largely removed from that of other states in the region.

Kurdish officials have continually asserted that they will not accept unsubstantiated proposals to postpone the referendum and will not bow down to threats.

“All we have been told is that the referendum should be postponed without any alternative that can replace the status quo that we have already,” Nechirvan Barzani said.

Under pressure from Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, the Iraqi Supreme Court ruled to suspend the Kurdish referendum on Monday. However, this will have no impact on Erbil’s decision to proceed with the referendum, planned for September 25.


Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi -File photo

“We don’t have the feeling that there is a judiciary system in this country that is functioning in order to protect the law, order and also rights,” said Fallah Mustafa, the head of Kurdistan Region’s Department of Foreign Relations.

“This decision in no way will affect the region of Kurdistan, the feelings of the people of Kurdistan or the leadership,” he told The Wall Street Journal on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

Kurdish President Masoud Barzani met with UK Defense Secretary Sir Michael Fallon on Monday, as Sir Fallon tried, to no avail, to make a last-ditch attempt at persuading Barzani to call-off the referendum.


Iraq's Kurdistan region's President Massoud Barzani speaks during a news conference with German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier in Erbil, Iraq December 8, 2015. REUTERS/Azad Lashkari

"We are committed to the integrity of Iraq. We are working with the UN on alternatives to this referendum," Sir Fallon said as he arrived in Erbil.

However, President Barzani reiterated that Erbil had made every attempt at forming an effective partnership with Baghdad, while Baghdad continued to fail the Kurds.


Turkish Flag - AFP


“The President spoke of the experiences the Kurdistan Region has had with Baghdad and how all of them had failed,” a statement from the president’s office read. “The referendum will not be delayed only for the sake of holding talks with Baghdad without knowing the content of these talks or knowing what international guarantees they will have.”

Turkey, a fervent opponent to Kurdish independence, continued to apply political and military pressure in an attempt to prevent the referendum from taking place.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and PM Abadi discussed the independence referendum in a telephone call late on Monday night.

Erdogan stressed Ankara’s “full support” for Baghdad in its continued attempts “aimed at preserving the unity of Iraq,” and said that Turkey was “keen to coordinate with Iraq for the security and stability of the region,” according to an announcement released by Abadi’s office.

Abadi stressed “the clear position of the Iraqi government” is to preserve the unity of Iraq and to prevent “all threats to civil peace.”

In a hostile move Turkish fighter jets allegedly bombarded Kurdistan Region’s Qandil mountainous areas in northeast Erbil province over Monday night, attacking positions of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a group Turkey considers a terrorist organization.

In other news:

Tensions in Kirkuk have raised a step higher as violence broke out on Monday night.

A bomb was detonated, the second in the city in just three days, in the Wasit neighborhood of central Kirkuk on Monday. Violent confrontations also occurred as gunmen on motorcycles opened fire on one of the offices of the Iraqi Turkmen Front.

Reports are yet to be confirmed, but thus far there is one reported fatality.

The Kirkuk Provincial Council has rejected the Iraqi parliament’s decision of Thursday, September 14, to remove Kirkuk Governor Najmadin Karim from office.

The vast majority of Kirkuk Provincial Council voted in the session, on Tuesday, to reject the Iraqi parliament’s decision to oust Kirkuk’s governor, according to BasNews.