KRG warned not to proceed with referendum

Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish Regional Government found itself on the receiving end of a barrage of warnings if it goes ahead with an independence referendum.

First the US issued a statement late on Wednesday warning the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) of the consequences of its referendum.

Then on Thursday the foreign minsters of Iran, Iraq and Turkey issued a joint statement expressing their concerns and also warning of possible "counter-measures." 

A statement released late on Wednesday by US State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said the independence vote was “now all the more unnecessary” and the KRG should choose the alternative path of conducting sustained dialogue with the central government in Baghdad.

“The United States strongly opposes the Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government’s referendum on independence, planned for September 25. All of Iraq’s neighbours, and virtually the entire international community, also oppose this referendum.”

The US warned the KRG that “if this referendum is conducted, the international offer of support for negotiations will be foreclosed.”

The statement also underlined the "costs" of the referendum if it went ahead.

It said the fight against Daesh would be negatively impacted as well as trade relations. It further warned that international assistance of all kinds might be jeopardised. 

US encouraged dialogue, saying it would “resolve a great many of Iraqi Kurds’ legitimate grievances, and establishing a new and constructive course for Baghdad-Erbil relations that benefit all the people of Iraq.”

The US also warned KRG on the status of disputed areas, urging the disputes be resolved through dialogue and not by unilateral action or force.

The statement further added that holding the referendum in disputed areas will de-stabilise the region, which Daesh is seeking to exploit.

It was a sentiment echoed in the joint statement issued by Iran, Iraq and Turkey.

According to the statement, the three foreign ministers "expressed their concern that the planned referendum by the KRG, which is scheduled for September 25, 2017, puts Iraq’s hard-earned gains against DEASH under great risk."

They warned that the referendum is unconstitutional and would provoke new conflicts in the region that would be difficult to contain.

They were of the opinion that the referendum would hold few benefits for the local population in the semi-autonomous region or the KRG.

They went further to warn that the three had "agreed, in this regard, to consider taking counter-measures in coordination."

The statement did not say what these measures were.

US envoy Brett McGurk was in Erbil on September 14 with an alternative plan to urge the KRG leader Massoud Barzani to postpone the referendum. 

McGurk said, “The vote would distract from Iraq’s battle against ISIL [Daesh]. The referendum is ill-timed and ill-advised. It is not something that we can support. That is not simply our position. That is the position of our entire international coalition.” 

After his visit, Barzani said "To date, we have not received an alternative that can replace the referendum, the alternative that we wanted was not offered.”