PUK, Gorran leadership express support for referendum in joint statement

SULAIMANI, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) – The leadership of both the PUK and Gorran, the second and third largest parties in the Kurdistan Region, issued a joint statement supporting the independence referendum following a meeting on Saturday.

The leadership of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and Gorran (Change) Movement issued a statement which involved several main points regarding Kurdish self-determination.

Both parties extended support for holding a referendum and said the establishment of a Kurdish state was the natural right of the people of Kurdistan.

The statement urged all parties to make preparations for holding the referendum and begin discussing the matter in the Kurdistan Parliament.

In the joint statement, both sides agreed to finalize the case in the Parliament as it is the national and top interest of the people of Kurdistan.

However, the largest and main Kurdish ruling party, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), believes the case does not require the mandate of the Parliament.

The Kurdistan Region Parliament has remained dismantled since late 2015 following tensions between the KDP and Gorran.

Additionally, the parties agreed a referendum should take place in the disputed territories between Erbil and Baghdad which includes Kirkuk Province.

In another part of the statement, both parties emphasized putting forth efforts to improve the financial welfare of the people of the Kurdistan Region.

They also addressed the re-organizing of the administrations in the provinces of Sulaimani, Halabja, and Kirkuk.

In the past years, the President of the Kurdistan Region Masoud Barzani has pushed forward the case for Kurdish statehood, a long-awaited dream of Kurds.

“The people of the Kurdistan Region have the right to decide on their future,” Kurdish officials have previously stated.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany