Kurdish people attend a rally to show their support for the upcoming Sept. 25 independence referendum in Duhuk, Iraq, Sept. 16, 2017. Source: REUTERS
On September 21, the foreign ministers of Iran, Iraq and Turkey, namely Mohammad Javad Zarif, Ibrahim al-Ja’afari and Mevlut Cavusoglu, announced in an official joint statement that their countries have agreed to consider taking counter-measures against the Iraqi Kurdistan Region as a result of the upcoming independence referendum there on September 25.
“In the meeting, the three ministers emphasized that the referendum will not be beneficial for the Kurds and the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG), and agreed, in this regard, to consider taking counter-measures in coordination,” the statement said.
Moreover, according to the official joint stament “The ministers reaffirmed their commitment regarding Iraq’s political unity and territorial integrity”.
The ministers also called for negotiation to end the crisis peacefully.
On September 20, Heather Nauert, spokesperson for the United States Department of State stressed in an official statement that “the United States strongly opposes the Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government’s referendum on independence, planned for September 25.”
Nauert called for negotiation backed by the US and the UN to reach a peaceful suction between Kurdistan Region and the Iraqi Federal Government.
“The United States urges Iraqi Kurdish leaders to accept the alternative, which is a serious and sustained dialogue with the central government, facilitated by the United States and United Nations, and other partners, on all matters of concern, including the future of the Baghdad-Erbil relationship,” Nauert said in the statement.
Nauert warned that if the referendum is conducted, “it is highly unlikely that there will be negotiations with Baghdad”.
This statement contradicts to earlier claims of Kurdistan Region President Masoud Barzani that there will be a US-backed post-independence negotiation with the Iraqi Federal Government.
Nauert also revealed that the upcoming Kurdistan Region independence referendum has already “negatively affected” Defeat-ISIS coordination to dislodge ISIS from its remaining areas of control in Iraq.
Furthermore, Nauert warned that the upcoming Kurdistan Region independence referendum will have negative effect on Kurdistan Region economy.
“The referendum may jeopardize Iraqi Kurdistan’s regional trade relations, and international assistance of all kinds, even though none of Iraq’s partners wish this to be the case. This is simply the reality of this very serious situation,” Nauert said.
The US pressure can be considered as a direct warning for Masoud Barzani who so far refused any political solution for the crisis.
CANT KURDS REALIZE NOBODY LIKES THEM?!?! LOL!!!
and? such things are really not important. russia has also no friends.
Other than China, India, Syria, Iran, etc…you know, 40% of the worlds population.
these are not friends. temporary allied iran, syria. thats all. china and india are not fiends, only business partners in some issues.
I swear you are the only IDF internet disinformation officer that Southfront allows to troll on here. It is obvious you want Syria to fall and ISIS and Israel to together invade and conquer Lebanon.
dont swear. i am not idf member
Ahh Solomon I can always count on u to write nonsense lmao
The US always has one hand in the pocket and another one gesticulating. Unfortunately, this has always been the case throughout their history. Hard to trust what they say.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Barzani has now invested so much political capital in this referendum that he feels utterly incapable to call it off. And that he would rather preside over the region’s economic decline and total isolation then admit that he was wrong.
Barzani is a Mossad asset, do a google image search for “Barzani Mossad”. He could care less what happens to the Kurds, his job is to advance Israeli’s geopolitical interests in the Middle East.
apparently, the Israeli efforts at supporting the kurds are uniting arab countries which were formerly divided. clap clap clap.
KURDS ARE LIKE ISRAEL . KURDS NEVER FOGUHT FOR THE INDEPENDENCE FOR PALESTINE . AND NOW THEY WANT INDEPENDENCE WITH ISRAELI SUPPORT . KURDDS WILL BE FINISH IF THEY LISTEN TO BARZANI. WHEN ISRAELI GOT THE WEOPEN THEY STATED TO KILL EVERYONE IN THIER NEIHBOURDS AND ITS SAME GOES TO KURDS . THEY GOT WEOPEONS FROM AMERICAN ZIONIST SO THEY WANT TO WIPE ALL ARAB AND TURKMEN AND IZADI FROM HTIER NATIVE PLACE SPEICALLY IN KIRKUK. KURDS WILL C HELL FOR SIDING WITH ZIONIST
Barzani can’t call it off because to do so he has to resign and he prefers death a thousand times over losing power. He very well knows the consequences too, but he has “handlers” after all and his mafia needs him on the top to operate.
A bit off topic, regarding their flag. It seems they took Iran’s old Lion-and-Sun flag, reversed the colors and removed the Persian cat.