ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Holding referendum on independence is “not risk-free” and will test the water regarding reactions from other countries before the Kurdish leadership decides on declaring an independent Kurdistan, a senior Kurdish politician and former Iraqi Foreign Minister told Rudaw Sunday night, as he revealed that the issue has been discussed with all permanent members of the UN Security Council.
Hoshyar Zebari, who is a senior member of the ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), and longest serving Iraqi FM since the fall of the former Iraqi regime 14 years ago, made the remarks in light of the Sunday high-level meeting between the Kurdish leaders and representatives of foreign missions in Erbil on the same day, including from Iran and Turkey who have already expressed their objections to the referendum.
Zebari said that the meeting was “successful” with the foreign diplomats who came from some 33 countries.
“It is not risk-free,” Zebari said as he argued that their is not an ideal time ever to hold the referendum.
He admitted though that there will be a delay between holding the referendum, and declaring the independence, during which the Kurdistan Region can test the reactions of other countries regarding the outcome of the referendum.
“[declaring] independence is harder than holding the referendum,” he said.
Zebari said that the Kurdish government has discussed the issue of independence with every visiting delegation to Erbil, and other countries, especially world powers.
“It has been discussed with all permanent members of the UN Security Council,” he continued, as he talked about rallying support for the long-anticipated referendum.
Zebari said that Erbil and Baghdad can no longer stay in the same boat as the latter continuously violated the Iraqi constitution, including cutting the Kurdish Region’s share of the budget since early 2014.
Leaders in Baghdad, who Zebari claimed was making some statements with regard to Kurdistan Region, have softened their tune after they saw that the KRG is serious about holding the referendum.
Regarding holding the referendum in the disputed areas, claimed both by Baghdad and Erbil, he said that it depends on the will of the local population in those areas who will have the final say.
Should the councils from the cities and provinces that come under the disputed areas call on the Kurdistan Region to hold the independence referendum, the Kurdish government will act on their request, and conduct the referendum, Zebari clarified.
The issue of the disputed areas, otherwise called Kurdistani areas outside the Kurdistan Region, was was put into the Iraqi constitution after the removal of the Baath party in Iraq. It concerns areas claimed by both Erbil and Baghdad, such as Kirkuk and some areas in Nineveh.
The constitution requires that Iraqis displaced by “Arabization” be compensated and moved back to their original areas, a process that has been resisted by many Arabs who have lived in disputed areas for decades.
The KDP, which has 38 seats in the Kurdish parliament, and holds the positions of the the Kurdish presidency and prime ministry, says that the referendum does not need an act from the now-paralyzed Kurdish parliament, a view not shared by the rival Gorran (Change) Movement.
“The referendum decision does not need the [approval] of the parliament,” Zebari said.
The KDP and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), the two main ruling parties in the Kurdish Region, held a high-level meeting last Sunday presided over by President Masoud Barzani founding a committee to discuss the issue of Kurdish independence with other Kurdish parties, and the Iraqi federal government.
Gorran refused to meet with the joint KDP-PUK committee stating last Tuesday that the Kurdistan parliament is the only legitimate entity that should decide on conducting a referendum on independence.
On October 2015, the speaker of the Kurdistan Region's parliament Yousif Muhammed, a Gorran member, was told to leave the capital of Erbil and barred from returning to his post after disagreements between KDP and Gorran.
The Kurdish legislature has not convened since.
