PUK, KDP to meet with foreign consulates in Erbil to discuss Kurdish referundum

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Representatives from the two main Kurdish parties and the Kurdish government are expected to discuss the long-anticipated referendum on independence with foreign consulates and representations in Erbil on Sunday, Rudaw has learned.

The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) held a high-level meeting last Sunday presided over by President Masoud Barzani founding a committee to discuss the issue of Kurdish independence from Baghdad with other Kurdish parties, and the Iraqi federal government.

Iran and Turkey, two countries who have a significant Kurdish population and have their consulate in Erbil, each has already stated that they are against holding the referendum in Kurdistan Region. 

The joint KDP-PUK  committee has so far visited several Kurdish parties to discuss the mechanism and timing of the referendum, planned to be held in 2017.

The committee also visited Baghdad to open discussions on subjects including with the Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, and other main Iraqi parties.

The spokesperson for the Kurdistan Regional Government said in a recent interview that his government wants to hold talks first with Baghdad before anyone else. 

“Then hopefully with our other neighbors so that they do not see this newborn entity as a threat to their security and stability. We are talking about the borders of Iraqi Kurdistan alone. We have no ambitions of a territory in Iran, Syria and Turkey,” Dzayee said.

In discussions with Turkey, Dzayee added, the the KRG  is waiting until after that country’s April 16 referendum on constitutional reforms.

 

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi expressed his doubts that even if the Kurdish people voted in favour of leaving Iraq, an outcome the prime minister said is clearly expected, the question arises then whether the Kurdistan Region will be able to take steps in this direction.

 

Abadi told Rudaw in late March that Iran, Turkey, and Syria, each of whom have significant Kurdish populations in their countries, are opposed to Erbil in its quest for independence.

 

“It is not a secret,” Abadi told Rudaw in an interview with Rudaw when asked whether any of these countries has told him in private of their opposition to Kurdish independence. “The official stance of Turkey is that they are against the separation of the Kurdistan Region. The official stance from Iran is that they are against the separation of the Kurdistan Region. The former Syria was in the same way against the separation, Syria both as a government and regime. I imagine that generally the Arab situation does not want it, either.” 

“You live in a region that might not be suitable for this separation,” Abadi warned. 

There are about 30 consulates, six honorary consulates, and six foreign trade offices in Erbil.