Iraq's PM sees Kurdish referendum as "undisputed right"

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region-- Iraq's Prime Minster Haidar Al-Abadi has said his government will not work against Kurdish independence referendum and sees self-determination as an "undisputed right."

 

In a meeting Thursday with a top Kurdish delegation in Baghdad Abadi also wished Iraq and its Kurdistan Region to become "good neighbors."

 

A senior official with the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) who attended the meeting said Abadi had called for "better understanding" between Erbil and Baghdad with regard to the future status of Kurdistan Region.

 

"About the right to self-determination, Abadi said they will not oppose it since every nation is entitled to it as it is a right recognized by the international community," PUK official Saadi Pira told his party's media quoting the Iraqi premier.

 

"Abadi also said that we should have better understanding about Iraq and its future, whether we should work to be together or part ways," Pira said.

 

"But he said that we would like to become good neighbors," he quoted Abadi.

 

A recent opinion poll in Kurdish controlled territories shows that over 82 percent of the respondents favor a breakup with the Iraqi state and support the formation of an independent Kurdish state.

 

The question of Kurdish referendum has seen complications partly because of the difficulty of holding the public vote in areas outside Kurdistan Region with mixed ethnic and religious populations.

 

Kurdish authorities have said the vote will take place almost in all territories currently held by the Peshmerga including in vast areas across the Nineveh Plains and in Khanaqeen where diverse communities share claims on common lands.

 

It is also still unclear how the vote will be held for nearly 500,000 Kurdish population in Mosul city which is seen as the capital of a future Sunni region.

 

"Abadi wants to normalize relations with the Kurdistan Region and showed gratitude towards Peshmerga," Pira said referring to the strained ties between Erbil and Baghdad over pending issues.