Iraqi Shia Alliance to visit Erbil this week, discuss Kurdistan referendum

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan 24) – The Iraqi Shia National Alliance plans to visit Erbil this week to discuss and negotiate the Kurdistan Region's independence referendum scheduled for September 25.

In mid-August, a Kurdistan Region Referendum High Council delegation visited Baghdad and discussed the vote with different Iraqi officials, parties, and foreign envoys.

The Shia National Alliance will travel to Erbil to discuss the referendum with Kurdish officials, and ask for the vote to be delayed, Majid Bazrgan, a member of the Referendum Council told local news outlets on Monday.

Bazrgan mentioned that during the delegation's visit to Baghdad, the Shia National Alliance bloc suggested postponing the referendum on independence, but the Kurdistan Region's delegates rejected the idea.

Senior Kurdish officials have insisted on holding the referendum despite the opposition of Baghdad, neighboring countries, and the US regarding the timing of the event.

Officials have emphasized that the partnership with Iraq has failed, and that the federal government of Iraq treats the people of the Kurdistan Region as second-class citizens.

Statehood for Kurdistan has been the dream of over 40 million Kurds, the largest stateless ethnic group in the world.

The President of the Kurdistan Region, Masoud Barzani, has repeatedly mentioned that an independent Kurdistan aims to prevent future bloodshed and catastrophic wars between Erbil and Baghdad.

“If we cannot work together as real partners, let us be good neighbors, as two separate states,” Barzani has previously stated.

Editing by G.H. Renaud