Iraqi Kurds facing isolation after independence vote

Regional countries ban flights to Kurdistan and Turkey also threatens to cut exports

Kurds celebrating after the announcement of the independence referendum results, which show 92.73 per cent of voters backed statehood.
Kurds celebrating after the announcement of the independence referendum results, which show 92.73 per cent of voters backed statehood. PHOTO: EPA-EFE

ERBIL (Iraq) • Iraq's Kurds faced the threat of growing isolation yesterday after a massive "yes" vote for independence in a referendum that has incensed Baghdad and sparked international concern.

Official results show 92.73 per cent of voters backed statehood in Monday's non-binding referendum, which Iraq's central government has rejected as illegal.

Repercussions were swift, with airlines from Turkey as well as Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon saying they would halt flights to Iraqi Kurdistan this week until further notice at the request of Baghdad. Attempts to isolate the Kurds came not just from Baghdad but also from Ankara, which has threatened a range of measures including cutting exports to the region.

Although Iraqi Kurd leader Massud Barzani said the vote would not lead to an immediate declaration of independence but should instead open the door to negotiations, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on Wednesday rejected the approach.

"The referendum must be annulled and dialogue initiated in the framework of the Constitution. We will never hold talks based on the results of the referendum," Mr Abadi told lawmakers.

He added: "We will impose Iraqi law in the entire region of Kurdistan under the Constitution."

An overwhelming "yes" vote had been widely expected from the electorate of 4.58 million. Turnout was more than 72 per cent.

Pursuing a long-cherished dream of statehood, the Kurds went ahead with the referendum in defiance of widespread objections, including from the UN and US. It has raised fears of unrest and the possibility of a military confrontation involving the Kurds, who are key allies in internationally-backed offensives against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militant group.

In a televised address late on Tuesday, Mr Barzani urged Mr Abadi "not to close the door to dialogue because it is dialogue that will solve problems".

"We assure the international community of our willingness to engage in dialogue with Baghdad," Mr Barzani said. He insisted that the referendum was not meant "to delimit the border (between Kurdistan and Iraq), or to impose it de facto".

Baghdad has steadily pushed back against the vote. Lawmakers on Wednesday passed a resolution calling on Mr Abadi to "take all necessary measures to maintain Iraq's unity", such as by deploying security forces to disputed areas. The resolution also called for the closure of border posts with Turkey and Iran that are outside central government control.

Mr Abadi has ordered a halt to all foreign flights to and from Kurdistan from today.

Turkish Airlines and the country's other carriers AtlasGlobal and Pegasus, which offer frequent connections to Iraqi Kurdistan, would halt their flights by today, the Turkish consulate in Arbil said.

Lebanon's Middle East Airlines said it, too, would stop flights to and from Arbil from today, and EgyptAir said it would begin an indefinite suspension.

Iran, which also has a large Kurdish minority, stopped all flights to and from Iraqi Kurdistan on Sunday, while condemning the vote.

Turkey fears the vote will stoke the separatist ambitions of its own sizeable Kurdish minority and, on Tuesday, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned that Iraq's Kurds risked sparking an "ethnic war".

He said: "If Barzani and the Kurdistan Regional Government do not go back on this mistake as soon as possible, they will go down in history with the shame of having dragged the region into an ethnic and sectarian war."

Mr Erdogan had earlier warned that Turkey would shut its border with Iraqi Kurdistan and also threatened to block oil exports from the region through his country. He even suggested the possibility of a cross-border incursion similar to the one Turkey carried out against ISIS and Kurdish fighters in Syria.

Monday's vote took place across the three northern provinces of autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan - Erbil, Sulaimaniyah and Dohuk - and in disputed border zones such as the oil-rich province of Kirkuk.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on September 29, 2017, with the headline Iraqi Kurds facing isolation after independence vote. Subscribe