We are in new era, referendum is behind us, says Iraqi Kurdish PM
Iraq’s Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG)'s prime minister says the issue of a unilateral independence referendum is over, adding that the region respects a recent top court ruling that bans any secession from the mainland.
"With regards to the referendum, we are in a new era, and this issue is over and we have made our position in the Kurdistan Regional Government clear," Nechirvan Barzani said in a joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris on Saturday.
He further reaffirmed the region’s “respect for Iraqi federal court ruling” that declared a secession referendum unconstitutional.
On November 20, Iraq’s Supreme Federal Court, which is responsible for settling disputes between the central government in Baghdad and the country’s regions, announced it had made a “decision to consider the Kurdish region’s referendum unconstitutional and this ruling is final.”
It also decided to annul “all the consequences and results” of the plebiscite that was held on September 25 in defiance of strong objection from both Baghdad and Iraq’s neighbors, particularly Iran and Turkey.
The plebiscite sparked tensions between the KRG and Baghdad, with the Iraqi army conducting a military campaign to retake the areas overrun by Kurdish militants in the course of the fight against the Daesh terrorist group.
Following the vote, Baghdad imposed a ban on direct international flights to the Kurdish region and called for a halt to its independent crude oil sales.
On October 12, an Iraqi government spokesman said Baghdad had set a series of conditions that the KRG needed to meet before any talks on the resolution of the referendum crisis could start.
In his Saturday remarks, Barzani expressed Erbil’s readiness to hold dialogue with Baghdad on the basis of the Iraqi constitution.
Macron, for his part, called for dialogue between the central government in Baghdad and the KRG within the framework of the Iraqi constitution, saying he was convinced a "constructive dialogue" could lead to lifting Baghdad's restrictions on the Kurdish region.
“This constructive dialogue must begin at the earliest time so that the problems are resolved in light of a united Iraq that respects the Iraqi constitution,” said the French president.
He further expressed France’s support for the “territorial integrity” of Iraq within the framework of the Iraqi constitution.
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