MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Massoud Barzani, the president of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region said Wednesday that it was time to hold a statehood referendum.
The referendum "will increase the resilience of the people in the offensive and economic crisis. We´re fighting in the fight line, so obviously…the people want to be independent," Safeen Dizayee said.
"The referendum doesn´t mean the declaration of the Kurdish state," Dizayee added.
In 2014, Barzani urged the parliament of the autonomous region to identify a date for a referendum on independence. Barzani called Baghdad's politics a failure that has allowed the Islamic State militant group to approach Kurdish borders.
Kurds are a Middle Eastern ethnic group with the population of some 30-35 million living mainly in Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria. The group has been fighting against the Islamic State militant group, which is prohibited in many countries including Russia.
