CAIRO (Sputnik) — In June, the authorities of Iraqi Kurdistan announced that they would hold the referendum on September 25. On Sunday, Iraqi Kurdistan's President Masoud Barzani said that postponing the vote would be out of the question.
"This is illegal and we will not recognize the results," Faleh Fayad said commenting the forthcoming referendum.
According to the Iraqi official, disputes between the central government and the Kurdish autonomy should be settled through negotiations.
"We are ready for a dialogue and to solve all existing problems between the federal and regional governments. But [the referendum]… is illegal, unconstitutional and will only result in new problems," Fayad said.
The Kurds are a Middle Eastern ethnic group with the population of 30-35 million living mainly in Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey. The ethnic group is striving to create its own independent state.
In 2005, the Iraqi Constitution recognized Kurdistan as an autonomous region that was run by the Kurdistan Regional Government. Since then, Kurdistan’s authorities have repeatedly raised the issue of regional independence.
