EU should fully support Kurdistan referendum: European Union MP

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan 24) – The people of the Kurdistan Region have the right to decide their future democratically, a Belgian member of the European Union said on Friday.

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has scheduled an independence referendum on Sep. 25, 2017 — a move labeled a historical day for Kurds in the Region.

Mark Demesmaeker, a Belgian member of the EU, spoke to Kurdistan 24 in Brussels during a Kurdish rally in support of the independence referendum.

“It’s up to the people belonging to a nation who live in the territory of a nation to decide on their own future in a democratic way,” he said.

“I think the European Union should fully support the idea of this referendum,” Demesmaeker added.

The Belgian official also mentioned the international community should respect and accept the decision of the people in the Kurdistan Region following the referendum.

Senior Kurdish officials have insisted on holding the vote, stating there is no turning point in exercising such a democratic move.

The top officials have often highlighted that Baghdad has ignored the constitution of Iraq and treats the people of Kurdistan as second-class citizens.

“The international community should respect what the people of the Kurdistan Region decide,” the President of the Kurdistan Region Masoud Barzani previously stated.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany