Iraqi Prime Minister, Haidar al-Abadi has called the Kurdish independence referendum as untimely.
Iraqi PM calls Kurdish independence referendum as untimely
14 Jun 2017 - 10:00
Iraqi Prime Minister, Haidar al-Abadi has called the Kurdish independence referendum as untimely.
"Every part of Iraq has aspirations and has a dream, and we respect that, even if we disagree with it," said Abadi on Tuesday.
"We live in one homeland and they are our partners," he added.
"We have a constitution that we've voted on, we have a federal parliament and a federal government…The referendum at this time is not opportune," he added.
The president of Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government, Masoud Barzani, announced on Twitter on Wednesday that the northern territory would hold an independence referendum on September 25 not only in the three provinces that make up the Kurdish region but in the areas that are disputed by the Kurdish and the central Iraqi governments.
Story Code: 271471