ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — After a US delegation met with high-level Kurdish and Iraqi officials this week, the US Embassy in Iraq released a statement saying the US is ready to support a “new framework for dialogue” between the regional and central governments.
The US delegation included Defense Secretary James Mattis and Special Presidential Envoy to the anti-ISIS Coalition Brett McGurk. In Baghdad, they met with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and Minister of Defense Irfan al-Hayali. In Erbil, they met Kurdistan President Masoud Barzani and other high-ranking Kurdish officials.
“Mr. McGurk reiterated our opposition to the September 25th referendum and urged KRG officials and the central government to establish a new framework for dialogue on a host of issues, including their future relationship, emphasizing that the United States is prepared to fully back this process,” read a Thursday press release from the US Embassy in Iraq.
The United States has maintained the timing of the referendum is wrong because of the ongoing fight with ISIS. Kurdish Peshmerga leaders have said the vote is a political matter and won’t affect their anti-ISIS efforts.
Barzani, himself the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, told the visiting US delegation that the referendum would “in no way create problems in the war against terrorism,” read a statement from his office after meeting with the US delegation on Tuesday.
The High Referendum Council met on Wednesday, a day after the US officials came to Erbil, and a member of the council was asked about the US playing a role in the Baghdad-Erbil stalemate.
"It is possible. It is said that they too are to form a committee for negotiations," Khalil Ibrahim, a Kurdistan Islamic Union (KIU) member of the Council, told Rudaw after the meeting.
Mattis “encouraged President Barzani to engage in a sustained dialogue with Prime Minister Abadi and keep the focus on maintaining the momentum against ISIS,” per a readout of the meeting from the Pentagon.
Barzani, who chairs the High Referendum Council, has remained steadfast that the referendum will go on as scheduled for September 25.
Any request for Kurdistan to postpone the referendum, should come with an alternative “and that alternative should be stronger than the tool of referendum,” the statement from Barzani’s office on Tuesday read.
On August 15, a Kurdistani referendum delegation met with Abadi whose office called the discussions “open and profound” and addressed the necessity to enact proper mechanisms to resolve outstanding problems in a positive climate.
Abadi’s office said that an agreement was made to continue constructive dialogue, explaining that Iraq is serious about achieving the shared interests of the people of the Iraqi nation, removing dangers and historical barriers that have piled up, and protecting the integrity of Iraq.
Baghdad has called the referendum unconstitutional and unilateral, and said it will not recognize the result.
Abadi said during a weekly press conference in July that all Iraqis, including Kurds, live “in one country that has a constitution” and the constitution does not have a section that allows for one party to unilaterally hold a referendum to separate from the rest of the country.
“That is why the way we deal with the referendum is that it is unconstitutional, illegitimate, and we will not deal with it,” Abadi said.
The Kurdistan Region says Iraq pushed Erbil into calling for the referendum by violating at least 50 articles of the Iraqi constitution, including Article 140 that concerns disputed or Kurdistani areas claimed by both Erbil and Baghdad, and the budget-share which was cut in early 2014.
Abadi last met face-to-face with Barzani in Erbil on July 3.
The US delegation included Defense Secretary James Mattis and Special Presidential Envoy to the anti-ISIS Coalition Brett McGurk. In Baghdad, they met with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and Minister of Defense Irfan al-Hayali. In Erbil, they met Kurdistan President Masoud Barzani and other high-ranking Kurdish officials.
“Mr. McGurk reiterated our opposition to the September 25th referendum and urged KRG officials and the central government to establish a new framework for dialogue on a host of issues, including their future relationship, emphasizing that the United States is prepared to fully back this process,” read a Thursday press release from the US Embassy in Iraq.
The United States has maintained the timing of the referendum is wrong because of the ongoing fight with ISIS. Kurdish Peshmerga leaders have said the vote is a political matter and won’t affect their anti-ISIS efforts.
Barzani, himself the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, told the visiting US delegation that the referendum would “in no way create problems in the war against terrorism,” read a statement from his office after meeting with the US delegation on Tuesday.
The High Referendum Council met on Wednesday, a day after the US officials came to Erbil, and a member of the council was asked about the US playing a role in the Baghdad-Erbil stalemate.
"It is possible. It is said that they too are to form a committee for negotiations," Khalil Ibrahim, a Kurdistan Islamic Union (KIU) member of the Council, told Rudaw after the meeting.
Mattis “encouraged President Barzani to engage in a sustained dialogue with Prime Minister Abadi and keep the focus on maintaining the momentum against ISIS,” per a readout of the meeting from the Pentagon.
Barzani, who chairs the High Referendum Council, has remained steadfast that the referendum will go on as scheduled for September 25.
Any request for Kurdistan to postpone the referendum, should come with an alternative “and that alternative should be stronger than the tool of referendum,” the statement from Barzani’s office on Tuesday read.
On August 15, a Kurdistani referendum delegation met with Abadi whose office called the discussions “open and profound” and addressed the necessity to enact proper mechanisms to resolve outstanding problems in a positive climate.
Abadi’s office said that an agreement was made to continue constructive dialogue, explaining that Iraq is serious about achieving the shared interests of the people of the Iraqi nation, removing dangers and historical barriers that have piled up, and protecting the integrity of Iraq.
Baghdad has called the referendum unconstitutional and unilateral, and said it will not recognize the result.
Abadi said during a weekly press conference in July that all Iraqis, including Kurds, live “in one country that has a constitution” and the constitution does not have a section that allows for one party to unilaterally hold a referendum to separate from the rest of the country.
“That is why the way we deal with the referendum is that it is unconstitutional, illegitimate, and we will not deal with it,” Abadi said.
The Kurdistan Region says Iraq pushed Erbil into calling for the referendum by violating at least 50 articles of the Iraqi constitution, including Article 140 that concerns disputed or Kurdistani areas claimed by both Erbil and Baghdad, and the budget-share which was cut in early 2014.
Abadi last met face-to-face with Barzani in Erbil on July 3.
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