Senior Military Commanders of Iran and Turkey: The Independence Referendum of the Kurdistan Region is 'Dangerous'

The Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces and the Chief of the Turkish Army described the consequences of holding the independence referendum in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq as 'negative and dangerous' during a phone conversation, calling for coordination among neighboring countries against what they termed 'separatist plans.' According to the report from the Iranian Armed Forces General Staff, Mohammad Hossein Baqeri and Hulusi Akar on Thursday, September 14, characterized the effects and consequences of the referendum in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq on 'security, peace, and stability in the region, including Iran and Turkey, as negative and dangerous.' As reported by ISNA, these two senior military officials also deemed 'coordination' among Iraq's neighboring countries in 'opposing the holding of this referendum and preventing the implementation of separatist plans in the region' as 'essential.' Previously, the President of Iran had implicitly opposed the referendum in a conversation with his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Ali Shamkhani, Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, and officials from the Iranian Foreign Ministry have also opposed the holding of this referendum. Meanwhile, Kurdish sources in northern Iraq claimed this week that Qassem Soleimani, commander of the Quds Force of the IRGC, traveled to Erbil to meet with Massoud Barzani with the aim of changing the referendum's intention, but the position of the Kurdistan Region has not changed. Iranian officials have not reacted to this trip. In addition to the governments and parliaments of Iraq, Iran, and Turkey, Syria also opposes this referendum. The United States has called for delaying the referendum, but the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq has rejected this request. However, Israel has supported this referendum, which is scheduled to take place on September 25 (October 3). This referendum is set to be held in four areas: Erbil, Sulaymaniyah, Duhok, and Kirkuk in northern Iraq, with five and a half million people eligible to participate. The Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq has stated that a yes vote does not necessarily mean separation from Iraq. According to a report from the German news agency, campaigning for this referendum began on September 5 in Iraqi Kurdistan and is expected to last for 18 days. According to this news agency, in the city of Sulaymaniyah, opponents of the referendum have also gathered and launched a campaign with the slogan 'Not now' against holding this referendum at the present time. The autonomous Kurdistan Region of Iraq was established in 1992, and calls for the independence of this region have intensified since the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq in 2003.