Iraq’s Kurds have voted to create an independent state, the High Elections and Referendum Commission said Wednesday following a referendum that has angered the Baghdad government and regional powers Turkey and Iran.
More than 92 per cent of people casting ballots voted in favour of independence, the electoral commission announced.
The referendum has fuelled fears of a new regional conflict. A delegation from Iraq’s Armed Forces headed to neighbouring Iran to co-ordinate military efforts, apparently as part of retaliatory measures taken by the government in Baghdad following the vote.
Baghdad demanded that foreign governments close their diplomatic missions in Erbil, the seat of the autonomous Kurdish government and a hub for humanitarian activities in northern Iraq.
Iraq’s prime minister has ruled out the use of force in the government’s confrontation with the Kurdish region, however.
Haider al-Abadi told lawmakers Wednesday that he will “enforce the rule of the federal authority in the Kurdish region with the power of the constitution,” saying he doesn’t want “a fight between the Iraqi citizens.”
Iran and Turkey also oppose any move towards Kurdish secession and their armies have started joint exercises near their borders with Iraqi Kurdistan in recent days. Iraq and Turkey have also held joint military drills.
The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) earlier in the day rejected an Iraqi central government ultimatum to hand control of its international airports to Baghdad.
The escalating crisis threatened to strand expatriates, diplomats and aid workers stationed in Erbil.
The Iraqi Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) notified international airline companies that international flights to and from Erbil and the region’s second largest city, Sulaimaniya, would be suspended Wednesday. Only domestic flights run by Iraqi carriers will be allowed to continue operating.
