Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 17
By Rufiz Hafizoglu – Trend:
Erbil is ready to postpone the referendum on the independence of Iraq’s Kurdish Autonomous Region if Iraq's central government fulfills a number of conditions, Iraqi media outlets write Aug. 17.
Reportedly, for the postponement of the independence referendum, the central Iraqi government must resume budgeting for the autonomous region, determine the status of the strategically important city of Kirkuk and increase the number of Kurds in the central government as well as the number of ethnic Kurds in the Iraqi Armed Forces.
Iraq’s Kurdish Autonomous Region is expected to hold an independence referendum on September 25.
Earlier, Masoud Barzani, head of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in northern Iraq, had warned that opposition to the referendum would be met with “a bloody war”.
Meanwhile, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had said that the Kurdish administration of Iraq will regret if it holds an independence referendum.
“Iraq’s integrity is a priority for Turkey,” noted Erdogan, adding that a referendum on independence of the Kurdish autonomy means the beginning of Iraq’s disintegration.
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