UPDATE: Kirkuk province votes in favor of participating in Kurdistan's referendum
7:38 pm
Abadi: Kirkuk's decision is 'wrong'
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi denounced as “wrong” the decision of the Kirkuk Provincial Council to participate in the Kurdistan Region’s independence referendum.
Abadi made the comment in a news conference on Tuesday after meeting with his Council of Ministers.
He added that the referendum is “unconstitutional and has no value.”
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3:50 p.m.
KIRKUK, Kurdistan Region – The Kirkuk Provincial Council voted on Tuesday morning in favor of holding the Kurdistan Region’s referendum on independence in Kirkuk province, while the head of the Turkmen Front is urging a Turkmen boycott of the September 25 vote.
“Upon the request of 23 members of the Council, today we discussed a crucial and decisive question that as a province of the Kurdistan Region, here [Kirkuk] vote as well," said Ahmad Askari, head of the Kurdish-led Brotherhood council faction.
In addition to the Kurdish representatives in the Brotherhood faction, two Turkmen, three Arab and one Christian member voted in favor of the motion.
According to Rudaw’s reporter at the meeting, 26 members of the council attended with 24 voting in favor of holding the referendum. A Turkmen Front member and an independent member abstained.
“Today marks a historical day,” Askari said.
He added the vote was in favor because “Kirkuk is an inseparable part of Kurdistan.”
No other institution is “more legitimate” than the Kirkuk Provincial Council to decide on the questions, Askari added.
He said they assure other components in Kirkuk than their rights will be preserved in the future Kurdistan state.
“We hope people vote ‘Yes’,” Askari wished.
He said preparations for the referendum will start as soon as possible, requesting Kurdistan's High Referendum Council begin to make technical preparations for the September 25 vote.
Another Brotherhood member said during the press conference that they had requested to meet with the Turkmen Front faction and the Arab faction, but other factions canceled.
Askari re-iterated the Kurdish claim that Turkmen and Arab factions not in attendance do not represent the voices of Arabs and Turkmen of Kirkuk.
The head of the Iraqi Turkmen Front, Arshad Salihi, told Rudaw in late July their main demand from the Kurdistan leadership is to exclude disputed areas from the upcoming referendum on independence, especially in areas he called Turkmen.
Turkmen Front calls on Turkmen boycott of referendum
Hassan Toran, an Iraqi MP and a leader of the Turkmen Front, described the decision by the provincial as “dangerous," therefore calling on the Iraqi government to react to the decree, Turkmen to boycott the vote, and the dismantling of the Brotherhood faction.
Toran accused Kurdish-led Brotherhood faction of partitioning Kirkuk after they stirred the motion and asked the Council to vote on it.
“It is not the Brotherhood faction’s work,” he said of the council's decision in an ensuing press conference .
He called the decision unconstitutional, just like that of raising Kurdistan's flag over government institutions in Kirkuk.
Toran accused the Council of a “unilateral” decision, saying no party could determine the future of the city.
“They continue to violate the law,” he went on to lash out at the Brotherhood faction.
He urged the people of Kirkuk, particularly the Turkmen population to boycott and refrain from casting a ballot on voting day.
He also called for Brotherhood faction to be dismantled.
Turkey says decision in Kirkuk violates Iraqi constitution
The Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a responding statement that the decision to hold an independence referendum in Kirkuk is in violation of the Iraqi constitution.
The statement added the international community rejects the decree and that the overall referendum decision for independence of northern Iraq is wrong.
Turkey said Kirkuk participating is in no way acceptable.
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11:15 a.m.
Kirkuk council votes in favor of participating in Kurdistan Region's referendum
The Kirkuk Provincial Council voted on Tuesday morning to hold the referendum in Kirkuk province on September 25, a Rudaw correspondent at the meeting reported.
According to the reporter, 26 members of the council attended with 24 voting in favor of holding the referendum. The other two members abstained.
Within the Kurdish-led Brotherhood faction, two Turkmen, three Arabs and one Christian member voted in favor of the motion.
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The Kirkuk Provincial Council convenes on August 29, 2017. Photo: Sartip Othman | Rudaw
10:30 a.m.
Kirkuk deciding whether it will hold Kurdistan referendum
The Kirkuk Provincial Council (KPC) has begun meeting on Tuesday morning to vote to decide whether or not to hold the Kurdistan Region’s independence referendum in Kirkuk province.
“No worries,” said Ahmed Askari, a member of the Provincial Council told Rudaw, “Because we have the needed votes and have collected the signatures of 26 members, equal to 67 percent of the Council’s members.”
The Council is comprised of 41 seats and needs a majority of a quorum to be an official vote.
A Rudaw correspondent in Kirkuk reported that the Turkmen Front faction and Arab Faction have through an official letter to the Council, rejected attending the session.
Rudaw has been told some members from the two opposing factions will take part in the vote.
He added the Kurdish-led Brotherhood faction, the largest in the Council, are attending, thus meeting a required quorum. There are Arabs, Turkmen, Assyrian and Chaldeans among the faction. Together, they could win 51 percent of the votes.
In the meantime, Rebwar Talabani, head of the KPC, said their meeting today will be conducted in a calm atmosphere.
Kurdistan President Masoud Barzani and almost all political parties first announced in the June 7 referendum meeting that in addition to the Kurdistan Region’s provinces of Duhok, Erbil, Sulaimani and Halabja, the so-called “Kurdistani” or disputed areas, claimed by both Erbil and Baghdad, would also be included in the vote if they so choose.
The Kurdistan Region will hold a vote on independence on September 25.