Iraq PM Reiterates Opposition to Kurdish Independence

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said on Tuesday that Kurdistan’s independence referendum is not mentioned in the constitution and will not deal with its results.

The Iraqi leader in a weekly speech reiterated his government’s opposition to the Kurdistan Regional Government’s call for an independence referendum, Kurdistan24 reported.

Abadi said there is no article mentioned in the Iraqi Constitution that talks about holding referendum in the Kurdistan Region, warning that the move will have negative effects on both Baghdad and Erbil.

Abadi said his government is ready to talk with the KRG and said a delegation from the KRG would visit Baghdad in the near future for that purpose.  

He said that a united Iraq is better for everyone, giving the example of the ‘good coordination’ between Kurdistan’s Peshmerga and the Iraqi forces in the fight against the self-styled Islamic State terror group.

“Going towards that direction [independence] will have a negative effect on Iraq because whatever happens in Kurdistan will affect the rest of Iraq and we want to avoid that,” Abadi said.

The KRG president in a recent statement said that there are dozens of examples where the Iraqi government did not abide by the constitution approved by the Iraqi people.