KRG: Cancellation of referendum up to the people of Kurdistan Region, not us

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan 24) – The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) said the cancellation of the referendum's results was not in the hands of anyone but the people and expressed readiness to talk with Baghdad.

The KRG's spokesperson, Safeen Dizayee, in a statement released on Tuesday declared that the referendum on independence for the Kurdistan Region was constitutional and it is not within the ability of the Kurdish leadership or Government to cancel the results.

"It was the people who determined their future in the referendum," he said.

The statement came in response to the Iraqi Government spokesperson's request to "cancel" the results of the independence referendum, "abide" by the Constitution and "retreat" from the Kurdistani areas outside of the KRG's administration.

Dizayee noted that the Iraqi Constitution does not prevent the people of the Kurdistan Region from holding a referendum to determine their future, asserted the vote was neither violating the Constitution nor international laws.

The KRG's spokesperson added that nullifying the results was not as simple as Baghdad is suggesting, stating that the outcome of the referendum is in the hands of the people of Kurdistan, who have already made their decision.

Regarding Kurdistani areas outside of the KRG's administration, Dizayee stated that Peshmerga forces have been protecting and defending those areas since the rise of the Islamic State (IS) regardless of their ethnic and religious background. 

He added that the Peshmerga were not a foreign army but rather a part of Iraq's defense system recognized by the Constitution.

Reiterating the importance of resolving issues through dialogue, the KRG called all sides to refrain from making statements that would further escalate the situation.

Editing by G.H. Renaud