Military maneuvers 24 hrs before Kurdistan referendum Monday

CAIRO – 24 September 2017: Iran and Turkey have expressed their concerns over the referendum of Kurdistan, and both countries have started military maneuvers along the border of the Iraqi Kurdistan region prior to the referendum due on Monday, according to Al-Arabiya satellite channel on Sunday.

Kurdistan’s Regional Government (KRG) will hold a referendum on the independence of Kurdistan due on September 25 in Erbil, Kirkuk and other Kurdish districts in Iraq.

Iran has cancelled all flights from and to Kurdistan upon a request from Baghdad’s government led by Haidar al-Abadi, Iranian media reported on Sunday.

“The referendum will take place at its scheduled time early Monday morning,” KRG Minister of Foreign Affairs Falah Mustafa told Egypt Today on Sunday.

Mustafa will arrive at Erbil on Sunday evening coming from New York where he attended the 72nd session of the United Nations General Assembly.

The Independent High Election and Referendum Commission has invited all media outlets to attend a well-organized press conference in Erbil on Sunday at 4 p.m. (Iraq local time) in order to announce the latest preparations for the referendum and voting system.

Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit urged the President of the KRG Massoud Barzani to postpone the independence referendum slated for September 25, but Barzani stressed in a mass conference on Friday that “postponement of the referendum is not an option at the moment as it is in the hands of the voters, not in the hands of the parties or government anymore.”

Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and his counterparts who met in New York, called on the KRG not to move forward with the scheduled September 25 referendum and embrace a process of genuine dialogue with Baghdad, stressing the integrity of Iraq and stability of Syria.