Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 23
By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:
The division of the Arab countries of the Middle East on a mini "state" is a painful process accompanied by military actions.
The common religion and interests, that previously united the Muslim peoples of Syria, Iraq, destroy the historic alliance between these nations now because they are under the monopoly of radical fanatics.
And it seems that the first actions have been taken for the separation of the Arab countries. The fact that the Kurdish administration of Iraq is preparing for a referendum on the status of the administration testifies to this.
According to the Iraqi media, the head of the Kurdish administration Massoud Barzani will announce the date of the referendum in the near future.
Holding of the referendum on the status of the Kurdish administration in Iraq is not new because earlier Barzani also reiterated that sooner or later, a referendum will be held.
After Iraq's provinces were seized by the militants of the IS terrorist organization, the relations between the central government of Iraq and the Kurdish administration greatly deteriorated.
Barzani accused the central government that it is responsible for the events in the country. He said that Iraq is on the verge of splitting and Baghdad does not control the situation in the country.
The Turkish authorities urged Arbil in July 2014 not to hurry with holding a referendum to change the status of the autonomy.
This call was made by Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who at the time was serving as Turkey's prime minister.
In May, Barzani said the referendum on the status of Kurdish autonomy in Iraq was postponed, stressing that the fight against the IS terrorist group is a priority for the autonomy.
He added that the referendum will be held after the fight against the IS ends.
Having considered the situation in Iraq, it can be seen that the fight against the IS hasn't even begun.
But what is then the reason for holding the referendum on the Kurdish administration's status.
In reality, the IS isn't the main reason for disagreement between the central government of Iraq and its Kurdish administration.
The main reason for the referendum lies first and foremost in that the parties - Baghdad and Arbil - can't share energy resources of Iraq.
In early July this year, the Kurdish administration decided to sell oil on their own, explaining this by accumulation of 1.5 million refugees fleeing the IS.
Officially, Iraq regarded this action as the first serious step towards breaking up the country.
So far, it is unknown what developments are to take place in Iraq, but it can be said that the country is already on the brink of split.
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Rufiz Hafizoglu is the head of Trend Agency's Arabic news service, follow him on Twitter: @rhafizoglu
