June 14, 2017
On June 7, the majority of Kurdish political parties held a meeting headed by the President of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, Massoud Barzani. As a result of the meeting, the participants decided to hold the Independence Referendum on September 25, 2017. The political parties also suggested holding Kurdistan’s parliamentarian elections on November 6, 2017.
The Independence Referendum will be whether the Kurdistan Region of Iraq should remain with Iraq or if it should be an independent state. Despite Kurds in Iraq expressing that the results do not necessarily mean declaring independence, the regional powers already rejected the move by the Kurds.
The Iranian regime’s foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi expressed rejection to Iraqi Kurdistan’s Independence Referendum by saying it “can only lead to new problems.”
The Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim described the process as a “grave mistake.”
Internally, the Iraqi government also rejected the referendum by saying it is“untimely.”
Iran and Turkey stand against Kurdish independence fearing the territorial integrity of their states since millions of Kurds live under repressive regimes in Iran and Turkey.
The Independence Referendum will be the first historical process for the Kurdish people to determine their future in Iraq after the international treaties divided Kurdistan into Iraq, Iran, Syria, and Turkey.
The “Yes” for independence is expected to dominate the ballots in the Kurdish region as Kurds have suffered for decades from policies and repressions by Iraq’s central government.