Kurds

Iraq's central bank on Wednesday eased financial restrictions imposed on the Kurdistan region over its independence vote after receiving a pledge of cooperation from Kurdish banks, an Iraqi banking source said.

All but four Kurdish-owned banks were allowed to resume dollar and foreign currency transfers on Wednesday, the source told Reuters.

The president of Iraq’s Kurdish region warned on Friday that the Kurds might be forced to retaliate if the central government persists with what his spokesman called a “very aggressive” stance toward the pro-independence referendum.

Turkey held a security meeting on Sept. 27 at the helm of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as tensions rise in the region over an Iraqi Kurdish referendum for independence.

Iran will remain an eternal friend of Kurds despite their recent vote to split from Iraq, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said in New York on Wednesday.

Tough and complex situations should be analyzed through the lens of experience and common sense. The recent article "The path that Turkey should take as the Kurdistan referendum takes place," written by retired ambassadors Osman Korutürk and Selim Karaosmanoğlu for the OdaTV website, is a piece that we should all read carefully nowadays.

Tough and complex situations should be analyzed through the lens of experience and common sense. The recent article "The path that Turkey should take as the Kurdistan referendum takes place," written by retired ambassadors Osman Korutürk and Selim Karaosmanoğlu for the OdaTV website, is a piece that we should all read carefully nowadays.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi is demanding that this week's referendum on independence for the autonomous Kurdish region be annulled.

"The referendum must be annulled and dialogue initiated in the framework of the constitution. We will never hold talks on the results of the referendum," Abadi told Iraqi lawmakers on September 27.

The Iraqi parliament on Sept. 27 asked Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to send troops to the Kurdish-held region of Kirkuk and take control of its oilfields, as the prime minister demanded that Kurdish administration "cancel" the outcome of the independence referendum.

People living in northern Iraq voted overwhelmingly in favour of independence for the Kurdistan Region in Monday’s controversial referendum.
The electoral commission said 92% of the 3.3 million Kurds and non-Kurds who cast their ballots supported secession.
The announcement came despite a last-minute appeal for the result to be “cancelled” from Iraq’s prime minister.

More than 90 percent of voters said they supported the independence of the Iraqi Kurdistan region, the first results reported by the election commission in Erbil late last night, reported world agencies. 

The voter turnout was over 72%, the commission added. The final results of the referendum are expected within three days.