BAGHDAD, Iraq – Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has told the Kurdistani referendum delegation visiting Baghdad that the Kurdistan Region already acts like a state with an independent economy and army, and that a referendum at this stage is not a “priority,” a member of the delegation told reporters after their meeting on Thursday.
Saadi Ahmad Pira said that they told Abadi “the objective of this delegation and the decisions made in Kurdistan is a decision for independence.”
He appreciated the fact that Abadi was “soft” and “calm” during the meeting, especially as the Kurdistan Region is trying to change the borders of the state he leads.
Pira said Abadi’s attitude shows he enjoys “good management” of the issue between Erbil and Baghdad.
Abadi’s office released a short statement after the meeting, calling the discussions “open and profound” and addressed the necessity to enact proper mechanisms to resolve outstanding problems in a positive climate.
Pira quoted Abadi as saying, “If I were a Kurd, I would have been proud to formulate such a demand” to hold the referendum. But the Iraqi leader stated his belief the issue is not a priority since Erbil already acts like a state.
“What more do you want to achieve?” Abadi asked the delegation, Pira recounted.
“You are acting like a state: you are exporting oil, have your own independent economy. You have your own Peshmerga, your Peshmerga do not carry the Iraqi flag. You receive delegations and you have airports and travel,” Abadi said, noting these are things usually exclusive to a sovereign state.
Pira argued that the many achievements Abadi listed have come at the expense of a weakened Iraq.
“We said in response... that whenever the Iraqi state became weak, we have had these things, but when it grows stronger, they are creating this and that operation room and gradually try to remove these things from us. We have many examples of such occurrences,” Pira explained.
The Iraqi government under then-Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki deployed the Iraqi army at least twice, in 2008 and 2012, to areas that are called disputed or Kurdistani areas, claimed both by Erbil and Baghdad.
Maliki created the so-called Tigris Command that was tasked with taking control of areas such as Kirkuk, a move strongly opposed by Erbil.
“We the people of Kurdistan have reached the point when we should have peace of mind, should have guarantees, and should have security,” Pira said. But they fear that a stronger Iraq may one day go to war with Kurdistan because of its achievements.
The United States has encouraged Erbil and Baghdad to settle their differences through a national dialogue, calling the timing of the referendum “wrong.”
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.
Additionally, Abadi's office stated gratitude was shown in the meeting for the joint efforts of the Iraqi and Kurdistan Regional governments to regain control of Mosul and the importance of liberating the entire Iraqi territory from ISIS militants.
The delegation has prepared a lengthy report chronicling about 50 articles of the Iraqi constitution that Erbil says have been violated by Baghdad, mainly Article 140 that concerns the disputed or Kurdistani areas claimed by both governments, and the budget cut by Iraq since early 2014, with the latter masterminded by Maliki.
The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) tasked its ministries in late July to prepare a dossier that may request the Iraqi government to pay hundreds of billions of dollars to Erbil as compensation when the two sides sit down to negotiate Kurdistan’s bid for independence.
The Kurdistan Region’s election body announced on Monday it had officially ratified and approved September 25 as the date for the independence referendum.
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