Iraqi Kurds set September independence vote

Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish population will hold an independence referendum on Sept. 25, Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani announced Wednesday. Hamin Hawrami, the senior presidential adviser, said the decision came after a meeting with top Kurdish political parties in the region’s capital, Erbil. Voting is set to take place in the three northern Kurdish governorates and also in the disputed oil-rich Kirkuk region. The Kurds took control of parts of the region in 2014 amid the fight against Islamic State. Kifah Mahmoud, a presidential adviser, told Bloomberg a second vote for a new parliament and president is set for November. Voters are expected to support independence, but what happens after the vote remains unclear because of regional opposition. Ammar al-Hakim, president of Iraq’s ruling Shi’ite coalition told Reuters in April the coalition would oppose a Kurdish referendum and warned the Kurds against annexing Kirkuk. Turkey and other neighboring states that have large Kurdish populations, including Iran and Syria, also oppose any move toward independence. Turkey regards its Kurdish political movement as a terrorist organization. The country’s troops have stymied the Kurdish militia’s efforts in fighting Islamic State and limited their territorial gains. But the Kurdish militia is a major player in the U.S.-backed fight against ISIS.

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