Kurdistan Region offers to freeze referendum results, ceasefire
Kurdish President Barzani casts a ballot during the independence referendum.
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi Kurdistan Region offered Wednesday to freeze the results of a referendum it ran in September on independence from Iraq, urging a ceasefire as encounters escalated recently between its forces and Iraqi troops.
“In order to fulfill our responsibilities and obligations towards the people of Kurdistan and Iraq, we propose the following to the Iraqi Government and the Iraqi and world public opinion: Immediate ceasefire and halt all military operations in the Kurdistan Region, Freeze the results of referendum conducted in the Iraqi Kurdistan, Start an open dialogue between the Kurdistan Regional Government and Iraqi Federal Government on the basis of the Constitution,” read a statement released by the Kurdistan Region Government.
“As Iraq and Kurdistan are faced with grave and dangerous circumstances, we are all obliged to act responsibly in order to prevent further violence and clashes between Iraqi and Peshmerga forces,” it said.
Kurdistan’s electoral commission had said that 92% of voters at the semi-autonomous region voted for independence from the Arab-led central government in Baghdad.
While Kurds repeatedly called for dialogue and avoiding clash, Baghdad insisted to cancel the referendum’s results before starting dialogue.
Iraq forces have taken over the disputed province of Kirkuk, with sporadic clashes reported between them and Kurdish Peshmerga troops.