The referendum on independence held by the Kurdistan Regional Government on Monday was unnecessary, provocative and unwise. The vote will only help to create a new problem in an already volatile region, which is reeling under multiple crises and wars. The referendum will not take Iraqi Kurds any closer to independence, while it will wrongly rise the expectations of Kurds in the region. Moreover, it comes at a wrong time, when every country in the region is embroiled in some crisis or other.
The Kurdistan Regional Government should have abandoned the plans for the referendum in the face of stiff opposition from all sides. It’s rarely that the world powers and several countries have opposed a vote so unanimously. Iraq, Iran, Syria, Turkey, the Arab League and the United States, as well as the European Union and the United Nations opposed the vote, all of them for various reasons. The White House called the referendum “provocative and destabilizing”. Washington is worried that it would be an obstacle in the fight against the Islamic State (IS) which it has started, in which the pesh merga, the Kurdish forces, are playing a leading role.
\Qatar too voiced concern over the vote, saying it would pose a threat to the unity of Iraq and the security and stability of the region. An official source at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the vote, which was held without permission from the central government in Iraq, “should not lead to further negative repercussions and exacerbate the divisions between the Iraqi people at a time when the focus should be on achieving security, stability and unity of Iraq and the elimination of terrorism.”
Only Israel has declared support for an independent Kurdish state, but that would only harm the interests of Kurdistan instead of helping it. Tel Aviv wants Kurdistan as an ally against Iran.
It was expected that Iraqi Kurds would overwhelmingly support independence, and when the results came, almost 93 percent voted ‘Yes’. Massoud Barzani, the president of Kurdistan, has said the vote will not lead to an immediate, unilateral declaration of independence but will open the way for negotiations with Baghdad and other countries. Barzani is egregiously wrong. Neither Iraq nor other countries would be willing to negotiate with his regional government. Iraq is not ready to lose control over the rich oil fields located in Kurdistan.
The repercussions have started. Iraq has reacted furiously. It has threatened to ban flights to Kurdish airports and demanded that foreign governments close their diplomatic missions in Erbil.
Now that the vote has happened, all sides must try to reduce tension and refrain from actions that will inflame passions and lead to violence and another regional conflict.
