Iran, Iraq, Turkey Issue Joint Statement against Kurdish Referendum
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The foreign ministers of Iran, Iraq and Turkey, in a joint statement, voiced their opposition to a unilateral plan by Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan Region to hold and independence referendum next week.
During a trilateral meeting in New York on Wednesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and his Iraqi and Turkish counterparts, Ibrahim al-Jaafari and Mevlut Cavusoglu, conferred on the Iraqi Kurdistan region’s planned independence referendum, due to be held on Monday, September 25.
In their joint statement, the top diplomats reaffirmed the need for maintaining the territorial integrity and political unity of Iraq.
They also highlighted the importance of Iraq’s recent victories against the Daesh (ISIS or ISIL) terrorist group and stressed the need for efforts to achieve lasting security and stability in the Arab country in post-Daesh era.
The three foreign ministers further warned that the Kurdish referendum would jeopardize Iraq’s hard-earned achievements in the fight against Daesh terrorists.
Authorities in Iraq’s Kurdish region have announced that the northern territory will hold the independence referendum on September 25.
On Monday, Iraq’s top court ordered the suspension of the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) referendum on independence.
The Supreme Court’s ruling calls for all preparations for the planned vote to be halted, following a review of multiple “requests to stop the referendum”.