Falah Mustafa, who has been in Washington for a week to discuss the referendum with US officials, told Rudaw on Sunday that the date of the referendum does not fit with the US plans for Iraq.
“It is true that the US administration may be making some efforts to convince the leadership of Kurdistan so that the date could be changed, but our decision for this date is that we hold this process on September 25,” Mustafa said. “We respect the assessment of the US administration, but this is a decision taken by the nation of Kurdistan.”
He said there is an understanding among the US officials with regard to the Kurdish right to self-determination.
“They understand the rights of the Kurdistan nation to self-determination. They understand that we have had a difficult past. They respect the right of the Kurdistan nation to practice the right to self-determination,” Mustafa said.
“The only problem they have is the time — over which they have concern. The time is not compatible with their programs. They say ‘This may distract you; that you may not be able to continue in the fight against ISIS. That this may not be helpful in the programs we have outlined for Iraq.' Otherwise, apart from the time, they are not against the referendum process in any shape or form.”
The US congress in late June for the first time conditioned funding to the KRG on Erbil’s participation in a “unified Iraq”, raising concerns that Washington may cut the funds if the Kurdistan Region holds firm on the referendum.
The KRG’s Representative to the US told Rudaw that there is a “friendly environment” in Washington with regards to the KRG, and that the funds will continue.
“There are different views and thoughts both on the referendum and the independence, too. But the environment is very, very friendly. This [atmosphere] is very important for us,” Bayan Sami Abdul Rahman also said on Sunday.
“We know that the funds that are there for the Peshmerga and the people of Kurdistan would continue,” she continued.
The US Special Presidential Envoy to the war against ISIS expressed in mid-July that the United States has concerns about the date of the referendum, and that they think the vote in the disputed, or Kurdistani, areas claimed by Erbil and Baghdad would be “destabilizing.”
"We think that under the Iraqi constitution there is an important process of dialogue that has to take place. And having a referendum on such a fast timeline, particularly in disputed areas, would be, we think, significantly destabilizing and we’ve made those views very clear. So we are in consultations with all parties,” Brett McGurk said.
Kurdish officials, including President Masoud Barzani, have said on more than an occasion that the United States has concerns regarding the timing of the referendum, as the US administration had asked Erbil to postpone it until after the general elections in Iraq which are expected to take place in April 2018.
The Kurdish government has refused to change the date of the referendum, mainly because the Iraqi election may not take place on time, Kurdish officials said.
A member of the newly-founded High Referendum Council, Hoshyar Zebari, told Rudaw on Saturday that the date of the referendum is set in stone.
“We are determined to conduct the referendum on September 25,” Zebari said, maintaining that there will be no postponement.
Zebari also told Rudaw that they have taken the decision to visit the permanent members of the Security Council whom he referred to as “essential countries”, as well as Turkey, Iran, Arab countries and more importantly Baghdad to discuss the referendum.
He earlier had told Rudaw that Erbil discussed the issue of the referendum with the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council that includes the United States, the United Kingdom, Russia, France and China.
He said the visits are to explain the reasons for the referendum and the preparations made in this regard.
The majority of parties in the Kurdistan Region, including those of the Turkmen and Christians, set September 25 to hold an independence referendum, including in the disputed, or Kurdistani areas, in a high level meeting held in June, headed by President Barzani.
Baghdad has expressed its opposition to the referendum calling it unconstitutional and unilateral.
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