IRBIL: Iraq’s Kurdish region’s controversial vote on independence will go ahead as planned on Monday, despite mounting pressure to call off the referendum, the region’s president said at a press conference in Irbil Sunday.
Masoud Barzani said that while the vote will be the first step in a long process to negotiate independence, the region’s “partnership” with the Iraqi central government in Baghdad is over.
The Kurdish region’s president detailed the abuses Iraq’s Kurds have faced by Iraqi forces, including killings at the hands of former leader Saddam Hussein’s army that left more than 50,000 Kurds dead.
“Only through independence can we secure a future where we will not have the past atrocities,” he said.
Baghdad, the United States and the United Nations have all voiced strong opposition to the vote set for Monday, warning it could further destabilize the region as Iraqi and Kurdish forces continue to battle the Daesh group.
Turkey renewed a bill on Saturday allowing the military to intervene in Iraq and Syria if faced with national security threats, a move seen as a final warning to Iraqi Kurds.
Earlier Sunday, Iran closed its airspace to flights taking off from Iraq’s Kurdish region following a request from Baghdad. Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard also launched a military exercise Sunday in its northwestern Kurdish region, in a sign of Tehran’s concerns over the vote.
At the Irbil press conference, Barzani said he was unaware that Iran had closed its airspace, but that it was Iran’s “own decision.” The leader also confirmed that there had been shelling along Iran’s border with the Kurdish region.
Barzani also addressed concerns that Turkey would shut its border with the Kurdish region following the vote, saying he hoped Turkey would leave the crossing open.
“There will be no benefit for either side,” he said.
Despite fears in disputed territories — Iraqi territory claimed by both the Kurds and Baghdad — Barzani said he didn’t expect violence to follow the vote, explaining that Iraq’s military and the Kurdish fighters known as the peshmerga have “good coordination in the war against terror.”
The peshmerga forces have been instructed not to respond to “provocations,” in Kirkuk, Barzani added.
Kurdish president says partnership with Iraq is over
Kurdish president says partnership with Iraq is over
US announces ‘large-scale’ strikes against Daesh in Syria
- CENTCOM said operation ordered by President Donald Trump
- Launched in response to the deadly Dec. 13 Daesh attack in Palmyra
WASHINGTON: US and allied forces carried out “large-scale” strikes against the Daesh group in Syria on Saturday in response to an attack last month that left three Americans dead, the US military said.
“The strikes today targeted Daesh throughout Syria” and were part of Operation Hawkeye Strike, which was launched “in direct response to the deadly Daesh attack on US and Syrian forces in Palmyra, Syria” on December 13, US Central Command said in a statement on X.
CENTCOM said the operation was ordered by President Donald Trump following the ambush and is aimed at “root(ing) out Islamic terrorism against our warfighters, prevent(ing) future attacks, and protect(ing) American and partner forces in the region.”
The statement continued: “If you harm our warfighters, we will find you and kill you anywhere in the world, no matter how hard you try to evade justice,” adding that US and coalition forces remain “resolute in pursuing terrorists who seek to harm the United States.”
The statement did not note whether anyone was killed in the strikes. The Pentagon declined to comment on more details and the State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
About 1,000 US troops remain in Syria, while Syria has been cooperating with a US-led coalition against Daesh, reaching an agreement late last year when President Ahmed Al-Sharaa visited the White House.
* With Agencies
