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Massoud Barzani asks Kurdistan parliament
to proceed with independence vote
3.7.2014 |
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Kurdistan president says "We
have international support for independence, and
those who do not support us do not oppose us,” “You
have to pass a bill on a KRG election commission as
soon as possible.
July 3, 2014
ERBIL-Hewlêr,
Kurdistan region 'Iraq',— The president of
Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan Region asked the Kurdish
parliament on Thursday to prepare the way for a
referendum on independence, according to lawmakers
who attended the closed session.
In a private briefing to the Kurdish parliament,
Massoud Barzani delivered on his promise of a
referendum for Kurdish independence.
“I ask for your assistance to set a date,” the head
of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) told
lawmakers.
Iraq's five million Kurds, who have ruled themselves
within Iraq in relative peace since the 1990s, have
expanded their territory by up to 40 percent in
recent weeks as Sunni Islamist militants seized vast
stretches of western and northern Iraq.
"The president asked us to form an independent
electoral commission to carry out a referendum in
the Kurdistan region and determine the way forward,"
said lawmaker Farhad Sofi, a member of the Kurdistan
Democratic Party (KDP).
President Massoud Barzani did not offer a timetable
on the proposed commission's work of organising a
referendum, several Kurdish lawmakers told Reuters.
Theywww.Ekurd.net
said Barzani had asked parliament to choose a date
for the vote.
The United States has urged Barzani to stick with
Baghdad, though the Kurdish leader said during a
meeting last month with U.S. Secretary of State John
Kerry that it was "very difficult" to imagine Iraq
staying together.
Having told the BBC earlier this week that it “is a
question of months” before a referendum would take
place, Barzani arrived at parliament to raise
support for his plan.
“We have international support for independence, and
those who do not support us do not oppose us,” he
announced. “You have to pass a bill on a KRG
election commission as soon as possible.”
He also made plain there are no plans to relinquish
control of disputed areas outside Kurdistan’s
official borders, where the KRG has moved in its
forces over the past three weeks, including the
oil-rich city of Kirkuk.
“The Peshmerga forces will not pull out from Kirkuk
and the disputed areas,” Barzani declared.
Many Kurdish MPs came dressed in traditional Kurdish
clothing in anticipation of a historic announcement:
The creation of an independent state has long been
the dream of Kurds, who were first promised a
referendum on statehood in 1920 before international
powers rescinded the offer two years later.
Barzani’s speech was delivered in the wake of
beleaguered Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s
failed attempt to form a government in Baghdad. The
Shiite premier has lost crucial support from
domestic and international partners since the
Islamic State (ISIS) and other militant groups
wrested a third of the country from his government’s
control.
The Iraqi Parliament opened on Tuesday, only to have
Kurdish and Sunni lawmakers storm out after facing
insults and threats from members of Maliki’s State
of Law Coalition, some of whom were dressed in
military fatigues. Quorum was lost and nothing was
achieved in the session, which only served to
illustrate how divided the country has grown.
Accused of alienating Iraq’s Sunni population and
mismanaging the numerous national security posts he
occupies, Maliki has remained staunchly defiant in
the face of calls to step down. He points to a
strong result in April’s elections as a mandate to
return for a third term.
In a televised speech following the stormy
parliamentary session in Baghdad, Maliki promised
that the Iraqi army would return Kirkuk and other
disputed territories currently protected by Kurdish
Peshmerga forces, accusing the Kurds of taking
advantage of the insurgency to advance their own
interests.
“There is nothing in our constitution called
self-determination," Maliki said. "No one has the
right to take advantage of events… as happened with
some actions of the Kurdistan Region."
"What we see today is the result of the failed
policies of Maliki in Iraq. We warned them about
this six months ago, but they did not listen," he
said.
His appearance in the Kurdish Parliament comes as a
high-ranking Kurdish delegation in Washington DC
makes the case for self-determination to US
Secretary of State John Kerry and other American
officials.
Speaking at the Washington Institute for Near East
Policy, Fuad Hussein, Barzani’s chief of staff,
explained that independence could lead to a
confederation with Iraq.
“When I am talking about the right of
self-determination, the Kurds can have their own
independent country,” he said. “But when we have a
democratic government in Baghdad and they can have
their territory (currently under the control of the
militants), we can combine and have a confederation
between two states,” he said.
Hussein emphasized that the current KRG policy is a
“two path” approach. On the one hand, Kurds are
working to establish a government in Baghdad. On the
other, Kurds must ensure their political and
economic security, considering they share a
1,000-kilometer border with the Islamic State, which
has effectively cut them off from the rest of the
country.
“We want to show our friends that we have done
everything to help the political process in Iraq,”
said Falah Mustafa Bakir, head of the KRG’s
Department of Foreign Relations. Only if it doesn’t
work out, he said, will the Kurds opt for
independence.
Neither Bakir nor Hussein indicated that a
referendum would lead to independence anytime soon.
“Having a referendum doesn’t mean we are going to
implement the result directly,” Hussein clarified.
“That depends on the situation and negotiations with
other countries. But the Kurdish people have the
right of self-determination and one day we will
implement that right.”
Following the establishment of a no-fly zone in
1991, the KRG enjoyed de facto independence until
the fall of Saddam Hussein’s Baathist regime in
2003. Granted strong federal rights under the 2005
Iraqi Constitution, Kurds have complained that they
have been denied their constitutional privileges,
including a referendum in the disputed areas and the
right to negotiate independent oil exports.
By Alexander Whitcomb. Additional reporting by
Raed Asad Ahmed - Rudaw
Reuters contributed to this report
Copyright ©, respective author or news agency,
rudaw.net
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