Masoud Barzani Announces Conditions for Postponing Referendum

While the Baghdad government and various other countries have called for the postponement of the independence referendum date in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, Masoud Barzani, the President of this region, outlined his conditions for delaying the referendum during a meeting with the British Defense Minister. According to the Kurdish news network "Rudaw," Barzani stated that the Kurdistan Regional Government would postpone the referendum only if Baghdad commits to initiating independence negotiations and provides an international guarantee that these negotiations will take place. According to the British newspaper "Telegraph," Michael Fallon, the British Defense Minister, visited Erbil on Monday, September 18, to persuade regional officials to delay the referendum. According to Agence France-Presse, Fallon described the referendum as "a mistake" and emphasized Britain's commitment to Iraq's territorial integrity. The British Defense Minister also urged the regional government to focus its efforts on dialogue with the central government of Iraq "under international supervision" while postponing the referendum. Barzani responded to Fallon's request by asserting that both the referendum and dialogue are tools for achieving independence, and since no alternative has been provided to guarantee the conduct of independence negotiations, the referendum cannot be delayed. He added that if the central government of Iraq expresses readiness for such negotiations within a specified timeframe and the international community guarantees their execution, the political leaders of the region will convene and make a final decision regarding the referendum. Masoud Barzani, the President of the Kurdistan Regional Government, announced on June 7 that the region would hold a referendum for independence on October 25. Following this decision, the Federal Supreme Court of Iraq announced on Monday, September 18, that it had received complaints regarding the illegality of this referendum and therefore issued an order to postpone the Kurdistan referendum. Reports indicate that in the lead-up to the referendum in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, the multi-ethnic city of Kirkuk witnessed clashes between Kurds and Turkmen residents on the night of Monday, and Kirkuk was under martial law on the night of Tuesday. The city of Kirkuk is rich in oil resources and is one of the areas that the Kurds of Iraq believe will be considered part of the Kurdistan region after the independence referendum on October 25. On September 13, Iraqi parliament members called for the dismissal of the Kurdish governor of this province who had supported independence. On Monday night, several armed men on motorcycles attacked one of the administrative centers of the Turkmen in Kirkuk. One employee of this center told the Associated Press that following an exchange of gunfire between the building's guards and the attackers, one of the attackers was killed and two were wounded. Hours later, a police vehicle, which included the brother of the killed attacker, attacked another Turkmen center, and the clash ended when several individuals from different ethnicities became involved. Although there was no significant destruction from this clash, the level of gunfire exchange was considerable. Kirkuk is home to various ethnic groups, including Arabs, Kurds, Turkmen, and Assyrian Christians. Kurdish forces took control of this province and other disputed areas in the summer of 2014 when Islamic State forces were forced to withdraw from the region, and the Iraqi army was on the brink of collapse due to prolonged battles. In this context, Turkey conducted military maneuvers at the border with Iraqi Kurdistan.