Kurdistan Investors' Union calls on businessmen to make history, cover cost of referendum

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan 24) – In a patriotic move likely to go down in Kurdish history, the Kurdistan Investors' Union's spokesperson called on investors in the Region to cover the cost of the independence referendum scheduled for Sep. 25, 2017.

“We [the people of Kurdistan] are close to overcoming this challenging period and rising above the situation. The number of friends we have greatly exceeds that of our enemies,” Mala Yaseen, the spokesperson of the Kurdistan Investors' Union, recently posted on his official Facebook page.

He urged investors in the Kurdistan Region to fully finance the referendum process, describing it as their “national duty," a move that would be recorded in the annals of history.

Yaseen stated that once all Kurdish parties in the Kurdistan Region, especially the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and Gorran (Change), agree on the referendum process, investors should offer to cover the costs of the historic vote, currently estimated to be US$20 million.

“Such opportunity will not be presented again in history… $20 million is not much. Let us participate in this milestone, in establishing the foundation of an independent state of Kurdistan during this [economic] crisis,” the spokesman added.

The Kurdistan Region has been suffering from an economic and financial crisis since the beginning of 2014.  According to the Kurdish Premier Nechirvan Barzani, Baghdad cutting the federal budget's share to the Kurdistan Region, the global drop in oil prices, the war on the Islamic State (IS), and the influx of 1.8 million displaced people and refugees to the Kurdistan Region contributed to the crash of the Kurdish economy.

Yaseen in his statement mentioned the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) could take the $20 million allocated to the referendum process and instead, "spend it on teachers and handicapped people whose salaries have been delayed" under the current austerity measures.

He also mentioned that most of the investors in the Kurdistan Region support the referendum and step toward independence. “We consider it a national, civic and moral duty to do all we can to ensure the success of this turning point in our nation's history.”

Kurdish senior officials have insisted on holding the referendum, saying there is "no turning back" on the event.

“The people of the Kurdistan Region have the right to democratically and peacefully decide on their future,” President of the Kurdistan Region Masoud Barzani has previously said.

Editing by G.H. Renaud