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| Kurdistan erupts in jubilation as 92% of Kurds overwhelming vote for independence from Iraq. Iraq threatens military action |
Kurdistan is in wild jubilation as Kurds prepare for independence. 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.
Haider al-Abadi urged Kurds to instead engage in dialogue with Baghdad "in the framework of the constitution".
Kurdish leaders say the "Yes" vote will give them a mandate to start negotiations on secession with the central government in Baghdad and neighbouring countries.
Iraq's parliament meanwhile asked the prime minister to deploy troops to the oil-rich region of Kirkuk and other disputed areas held by Kurdish forces.
Kurdish Peshmerga fighters took control of Kirkuk, a multi-ethnic region claimed by the Kurds and Arab-led central government, when jihadist militants from so-called Islamic State (IS) swept across northern Iraq in 2014 and the Iraqi army collapsed.
The referendum was held in the three Iraqi provinces that make up the Kurdistan Region, as well as "areas of Kurdistan outside the region's administration".
Electoral commission officials told a news conference in Irbil on Wednesday afternoon that 2,861,000 people had voted "yes" to independence and 224,000 had voted "no". Turnout was 72.61% among those eligible to vote.
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| Haider al-Abadi (left) met Parliament Speaker Saleem al-Jubouri on Wednesday Image copyright EPAImage |
In a speech to parliament before the result was announced, Mr Abadi insisted that he would "never have a dialogue" about the referendum's outcome with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).
The vote was vehemently opposed by Baghdad and much of the international community, which expressed concern about its potentially destabilising effects, particularly on the battle against IS.
Mr Abadi said his priority now was to "preserve citizens' security" and promised to "defend Kurdish citizens inside or outside" the Kurdistan Region.
"We will impose Iraq's rule in all districts of the region with the force of the constitution," he added.
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| Iraq's Kurdish region foreign affairs minister says independence is 'inevitable' |
The prime minister also reaffirmed his threat to prevent direct international flights to the Kurdistan Region if Baghdad was not given control of Irbil and Sulaimaniya airports by Friday afternoon.
The KRG's transport minister said he was seeking clarification from Baghdad.
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| Mr Abadi has demanded that his government be given control of Irbil international airport. Image copyright GETTY IMAGES |
"We don't understand how to give them the two airports," Mowlud Murad told reporters. "They are already subject to the Iraqi Civil Aviation Authority."
The United States, which was "deeply disappointed" that the referendum was held, has also questioned Mr Abadi's threat to ban international flights.
State department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said on Tuesday that such a move "would not be an example of engaging constructively".
Lebanon's Middle East Airlines and EgyptAir meanwhile warned customers they would halt flights to Irbil from Friday until further notice.
Mr Abadi has also demanded control of all border crossings and oil revenues.
Kurds are the fourth-largest ethnic group in the Middle East but they have never obtained a permanent nation state.
In Iraq, where they make up an estimated 15% to 20% of the population of 37 million, Kurds faced decades of repression before acquiring autonomy in 1991.
Iraq Escalates Dispute With Kurds, Threatening Military Action
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| Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi of Iraq, center, arriving for a session of Parliament in Baghdad on Wednesday.Credit Karim Kadim/Associated Press |
ERBIL, Iraq — The Iraqi government escalated its confrontation with its northern Kurdish region on Wednesday, threatening to send troops and seize oil fields there and taking steps to shut down international flights to and from the region.
The moves came in retaliation for a referendum on Monday in which the region, Iraqi Kurdistan, voted decisively to seek independence from Iraq. Kurdish officials announced Wednesday that nearly 93 percent of voters approved the referendum, which aims to create an independent state for the Kurds, an ethnic minority in Iraq.
Iraq’s Parliament asked the country’s prime minister on Wednesday to deploy troops to the oil-rich city of Kirkuk, one of several disputed areas held by Kurdish troops but claimed by Baghdad, and to take control of all oil fields in the Kurdish region.
A decision to send troops would be up to Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi. He gave no public indication of his intentions on Wednesday, except to say he wanted “no fighting among the people of the country.”
He also sent a delegation from the Iraqi military to Iran to “coordinate military efforts,” a military statement said.
The Iraqis want the oil revenue from wells in the Kurdish territory. They will likely invade and put down the independence movement.
Our troops fought and died...so that Iraq could occupy Kurdistan.No one has fought harder against ISIS than the Kurds.Iraqis ran from ISIS...
Iraq can’t even defend Iraq and they are going to threaten the Kurds. Be real. The Kurds are Muslim, moderate, pro western, and actually...
Iraq has called the vote illegal and has vowed to ignore the results. The vote has also provoked the Kurdish region’s two powerful neighbors, Turkey and Iran.
All three countries have been conducting military exercises near the border of Iraqi Kurdistan this week.
Iraqi troops, including Shiite Muslim militias incorporated into Iraq’s armed forces, are already in the Kirkuk area. While the city is controlled by Kurdish forces, Iraqi troops are fighting the Islamic State as part of an American-led coalition about 40 miles southwest of the city.Photo
Iraq ordered Kurdish authorities to surrender control of the region’s two international airports, including the one in Erbil, or face a shutdown of all international flights, starting Friday. CreditChris Mcgrath/Getty Images
Kurdish troops known as pesh merga seized Kirkuk in 2014, when the Iraqi Army fled an assault by militants there.
The inclusion of Kirkuk and other disputed areas in the referendum enraged the Iraqi government, which interpreted the move as a land grab. Baghdad has accused the Kurds of illegally selling Iraqi oil from the Kirkuk oil fields through a pipeline that runs into Turkey.
The Kurdish independence challenge is the latest crisis to rock Iraq in recent years. The country was controlled by Saddam Hussein’s regime until 2003, when the American invasion helped set off a brutal civil war and years of wrenching upheaval.
Just three years ago, Iraq lost a third of its territory to Islamic State militants. Now that the Islamic State is finally being driven out, Iraq is faced with losing a third of its territory and access to areas with oil and natural gas if Kurdistan breaks away.
Beyond the threats of military action, Iraqi authorities have struggled to come up with any meaningful punishment for the Kurds for carrying out the referendum. But with its move to shut down flights to the landlocked region, Iraq seems to have found a weak point.
Iraqi aviation authorities notified foreign airlines on Wednesday that it would cancel all permits to land and take off from two international airports in the Kurdish region as of Friday afternoon. The action followed an ultimatum by Prime Minister Abadi on Tuesday for Kurdistan to surrender control of its two international airports or face a shutdown of international flights.
The Kurdish Regional Government said Wednesday that it would refuse to hand over the airports. The region’s transportation minister, Mawlud Murad, called the Iraqi ultimatum “political and illegal.” He said the airports were critical to the American-led coalition’s fight against Islamic State militants.
Kurdish officials had planned to send a delegation to Baghdad on Wednesday to discuss the issue, but the offer was rebuffed.
On Wednesday night, Mr. Murad said that the Kurdish government had agreed to hold talks with Iraq about placing Iraqi government observers at its airports.Photo
People celebrated on the streets of Erbil after voting ended on Monday. CreditIvor Prickett for The New York Times
There was no immediate public response from the Iraqi government, but Mr. Abadi, speaking to Parliament earlier, said Iraq would not negotiate with the Kurds unless they annulled the results of the vote.
He said he had warned the Kurds “of the consequences of the crisis with Kurdistan.”
“The preservation of the security of the citizens of the country is our priority,” he added.
At least six airlines — three Turkish companies, the Lebanese carrier Middle East Airlines, Royal Jordanian and Egypt Air — started notifying passengers on Wednesday that they were canceling regularly scheduled flights from the airports in Erbil and Sulaimaniya.
Baghdad can make good on its threat because the Iraqi civil aviation authority oversees all airports in the country, including the two international airports in the Kurdish region.
The threat to cancel landing and takeoff permits would force international airlines to cancel flights to those airports because insurance risks would be too high, according to Robert W. Mann Jr., a former airline executive who is now an industry consultant.
“The issue turns on which entity controls Kurdish region airspace and airports,” Mr. Mann said. “Unless and until the autonomous region is given that control, Iraq controls and can ban, blockade or embargo air service to airports under its control, much as Qatari airports have been embargoed or blockaded by nearby nations. Faced with such a restriction, most commercial airlines would comply, in part due to warnings by their insurers.”
The Turkish Consulate in Erbil said that Turkish airlines were working to increase their seat capacity in an effort to get all passengers out of the Kurdish areas before the flight ban took effect on Friday afternoon.
Without international flights, getting in or out of Kurdistan would require going through Turkey, Iran, Syria or Iraq, where there are also threats of a blockade.
The Iraqi Parliament urged the government on Wednesday to close off its land border with Kurdistan.
For years, the Kurdish authorities in Erbil have controlled their own borders with Turkey and Syria. Mr. Abadi has demanded that all borders return to full Iraqi central government control by Friday.
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