Abadi: Now is not the time for Kurdistan independence referendum

[The Englishman]

Abadi: Now is not the time for Kurdistan independence referendum

By Rudaw 16 minutes ago

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi. Photo: PM Media Office

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Now is the not the time for Kurdish independence, said Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on Tuesday. He also touched upon the question of raising Kurdistan flag in Kirkuk, deeming it “illegal.”
 
Speaking to reporters in Baghdad, Abadi said the time is not ripe for a referendum, with ISIS on the doorstep, running parts of the country.
 
“I do not want to meddle in the desires and ambitions. There are people who have plenty of objectives and desires. Some have the desire to create a little state for themselves… The desire of our Kurdish brothers to create a country of their own is their right given the desire and the objective and nobody has the right to deter them. But holding a referendum at this time is not right as the ISIS war still rages, the region’s situation is not suitable and some neighboring countries believe this move poses a threat to the nation’s security themselves.”
 
“We have to be realistic otherwise we will lock in rivalry and problems with the Iraqi government and even other provinces of Iraq. On which basis will these problems be solved if you want to hold an independence referendum?” he asked.
 
Referring to comments by some Kurdish leaders who claimed holding a referendum does not mean the declaration of independence, Abadi said “Some say we will hold referendum, but we’re not going to implement it. Then what will you have to tell your people if you are to hold referendum and not implement it.”
 
He reiterated Baghdad’s message to Erbil that “we frankly say, it will not be in the interest of the Kurdistan Region to hold a referendum at this time. I, as the prime minister, have to take the interests of my citizens into consideration. In my opinion holding referendum is not in their interest, but will create a set of problems for them. Being in a hurry in this subject is equal to a withdrawal from all the victories that have been achieved in the past.”
 
He gave the short-lived Republic of Mahabad in Iranian Kurdistan which lasted less than a year as an example of a failure in the Kurdish movement in the region. The time was not right for the Republic of Mahabad, leading to its collapse.
 

Abadi’s message to the Kurdistan Region was to not repeat the same experience.

 
He reiterated that “I am speaking frankly through the media. I am not against the objectives. Everyone and a group of human beings have the right to fulfill their dreams. But holding it at this time is not in the interest of the Kurds, but against their interests.”
 
In parts of his speech on the question of referendum and independence, Abadi said he sees this move being taken by the Kurds as part of political rivalries.
 
“It is clear and many of the Kurdish politicians share the same view saying they cannot implement it and will not implement it… This is part of the political rivalries.”
 
Commenting on the controversial flag issue in Kirkuk, Abadi said “Too much attention has been paid to the raising of the Kurdistan flag in Kirkuk. A solution to this subject has to be found. Our words with regards to this matter are clear. According to law, they do not have the right to hoist flags on the governmental buildings. Also, according to law, the Kirkuk governmental institutions are part of Iraq and the Iraqi government raises only the Iraqi flag.”
 
Explaining a suggestion he sent to the Kurdistan Region authorities through a joint Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) delegation who visited Baghdad earlier this month, Abadi said “I suggested to them to take down the flags on the governmental buildings and put them on the political parties’ buildings instead. Then it becomes another subject, which I, as the prime minister, will not get involved in.”
 
On the same question, he pointed out, “I talked to many politicians on the issue of the Kurdistan flag who were against it. But now they have done the job and cannot stand against it, believing that it is political rhetoric.”

[Laid Back]

Only UNITED you will succeed.!

Go Iraq 

Go new power house of the ME

Go RV

[brob]

i love this guy. He's like do what cha want bros, just hold up a little while, we're just getting things settled, chill out a bit. 

[ChuckFinley]

 

[Drunk_Viking64]

1 hour ago, The Englishman said:

“I do not want to meddle in the desires and ambitions. There are people who have plenty of objectives and desires. Some have the desire to create a little state for themselves… The desire of our Kurdish brothers to create a country of their own is their right given the desire and the objective and nobody has the right to deter them

Then get off you chair cushions and get things done learn from the USA!! Stalemates only bring-down governments, pass the laws and budgets and show the Kurd's you actually give a rats-bottom about them. All you are doing is giving lip service just like the US Congress and US Senate to the people and very soon you too will be wondering what happened, and most likely right after the next election/rebellion/coup.

 

[tigergorzow]

Kurdistan's ongoing efforts to attain independence 'legitimate right': Abadi

April 19 2017 10:20 AM

Abadi

 

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on Wednesday stated that the ambitions of the Kurds to establish their own independent state is a legitimate right'.

But, at the same time, he asserted that holding the independence referendum at this delicate juncture does not serve the region's interests.

The deliberations conducted with the Kurdish delegation focused on raising the region's own flag in Kirkuk, the premiere added during his weekly press conference, pressing that they have no right to do this because these institutions are still under the authority of the central government in Baghdad. 

'We gave them the right to raise their flag over the headquarters of the Kurdish parties', Abadi indicated, reiterating no party will benefit from holding the referendum now.

Most of Kurdish politician subscribe to this opinion, he further noted. 

http://www.thebaghdadpost.com/en/story/9543/Kurdistan-s-ongoing-efforts-to-attain-independence-legitimate-right-Abadi

[tigergorzow]

KRG Committee Will Decide Whether Independence Referendum Includes Kirkuk: Governor

Independence referendum will be held in Kirkuk if the committee decides to include the city

• 
   

Basnews English

19/04/2017 - 12:06

Kurdistan

 

 

KIRKUK — The Governor of Kirkuk province Najmadin Karim stated on Wednesday that the Kurdistan Region's referendum commitee will decide whether the independence referendum will include Kirkuk province.

In a press conference on Wednesday, Karim said the referendum committee, which is expected to be formed from all Kurdistan parties to set up the mechanism of the independence referendum, will resolve the issue of Kirkuk's inclusion in the due referendum on independence.

If the committee decides to include Kirkuk in the referendum, then the process will be held in Kirkuk as well, Karim said.

Regarding the reactions of the Iraqi factions towards hoisting the Kurdistan flag in Kirkuk, the governor said "if they regard the issue of Kurdistan flag in Kirkuk unconstitutional, they can appeal against the decision in the constitutional court."

http://www.basnews.com/index.php/en/news/kurdistan/344144

[ChuckFinley]

Independence will be an issue .  They just need to find a work around for this.  

[tigergorzow]

Barzani: We Employ a Peaceful Way to Gain Independence

Those who criticize the referendum on Kurdistan independence have misapprehended it

• 
   

Basnews English

20/04/2017 - 16:12

Kurdistan

 

ERBIL — Kurdistan Region President Masoud Barzani said they continue the project of referendum on independence, stating that the criticism levelled at the project resulted from misunderstanding of it.

Kurdistan Region President Masoud Barzani met with Sigmar Gabriel, the German vice-chancellor and foreign minister earlier today. In a press conference which followed the meeting Barzani said the referendum on independence is to convey the wish of Kurdistan Region's people to the world, stating that "[This] doesn't mean we choose a violent method [to gain independence], but we rather employ a peaceful way which is in the interest of Kurds, Arabs and all nations in the region."

He stressed that those who criticize the referendum on Kurdistan independence have misapprehended it, underlining that referendum is to convey the wish of the Kurdistan Region's people to the world.

However, the German official considered the referendum an internal Iraqi affair between Erbil and Baghdad which should be peacefully negotiated.

Regarding the battle to retake Mosul, Barzani said Peshmerga forces managed to successfully drive back Islamic State militants from the areas assigned to them according to a plan which was jointly drawn by Erbil, Baghdad and the Global Coalition. He stated that Peshmerga and Iraqi forces have achieved significant victory over IS and the full liberation of Mosul is only a matter of time.

http://www.basnews.com/index.php/en/news/kurdistan/344507

[tigergorzow]

Iraq’s Shi’ite ruling coalition opposes Kurds’ independence referendum

 

by Mohamed Mostafa Apr 20, 2017, 3:18 pm

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Ammar al-Hakim, leader of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq (ISCI), speaks during news conference with Iraqi Kurdish regional President Massoud Barzani in Baghdad, Iraq, September 29, 2016. REUTERS/Khalid al Mousily/Files

 

Cairo/ Erbil (Reuters) Iraq’s Shi’ite ruling coalition would oppose Kurdish plans to hold a referendum on independence after the defeat of Islamic State, its president, Ammar al-Hakim, has said.

Speaking to Reuters in an interview in Cairo, Hakim advised the Kurds against any unilateral move to annex a disputed oil-rich region which they had gained during the war against the jihadists.

“If this referendum happens, it will be unilateral,” said Hakim, who is president of the National Alliance, a coalition of the main Shi’ite political groups including Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi’s Dawa party.

“We will insist on dialogue” as a mean to resolve the disagreement, the influential cleric said when asked what the Shi’ite parties would do if the Kurds insist on holding the referendum.

“We believe that the politics of accomplished facts and drawing borders with blood hasn’t succeeded in any country of the world and won’t have good results in Iraq either.”

Iraq’s majority Shi’ite Arab community is located mainly in the south while the Kurds and the Sunni Arabs live in opposite corners of the north. The centre around Baghdad is mixed.

Iraq’s main Kurdish parties announced this month a plan to hold a referendum on independence this year.

The Kurds say the expected “yes” outcome will strengthen their hand in talks on self-determination with Baghdad and would not mean automatically declaring independence.

“The purpose of the referendum is to seek out the opinion of the Kurds and then start a dialogue with Baghdad,” Massoud Barzani, the president of Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), told reporters on Thursday in the Iraqi Kurdish capital Erbil.

The Kurdish forces control more territory now than the area on which the KRG was established after the U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003.

Iraqi Kurdish independence has been historically opposed by Iraq and also its neighbors, Iran, Turkey and Syria, as they

fear the contagion for their own Kurdish populations.

Iraq’s Kurds have advanced the most toward their long-held dream of independence. Iraq has been led by the Shi’ites since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, a Sunni.

The Kurds have their own armed force, the Peshmerga, which

in 2014 prevented Islamic State from capturing the oil region of

Kirkuk after the Iraqi army fled in the face of the militants. They are effectively running the region also claimed by Turkmen and Arabs.

Hardline Iranian-backed Iraqi Shi’ite militias have threatened to expel the Kurds by force from this region and other disputed areas.

Hakim however downplayed the risk of military confrontation between the Shi’ite and the Kurds.

“Using weapons against Iraqis is not an option,” he said.

Kirkuk’s Kurdish-led provincial council rejected this month a resolution by the Iraqi parliament in Baghdad to lower Kurdish flags raised since March next to Iraqi flags over public buildings of the region.

Masrour Barzani, head of the KRG’s Security Council and son of President Barzani, said in June that Iraq should be divided into three separate entities to prevent further sectarian bloodshed, with a state each given to the Shi’ites, the Sunnis and the Kurds.

Hakim said he suggested to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, whom he met on Tuesday, to host a meeting of rival Sunni and Shi’ite countries in the region to try find common grounds in prelude to ending the sectarian strife raging since 2011.

The meeting, gathering Iraq, Iran, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Egypt would seek “to define the spheres of influence” for each, “and also spheres of cooperation,” for example against terrorism, he said.

http://www.iraqinews.com/baghdad-politics/iraqs-shiite-ruling-coalition-opposes-kurds-independence-referendum/

[MyLadiesDaddy]

These morons are so ignant all they do is sit around and think of things to fight about.