Gaining Independence by Iraqi Kurdistan Not to Be Easy Process - Official

It will not be easy for Iraqi Kurdistan to gain independence as there are many differences both in the region and in whole Iraq, Hemin Hawrami, a senior assistant to Iraqi Kurdistan’s President Masoud Barzani, said.

کد خبر: ۶۸۵۹۳۱

تاریخ: ۲۹ فروردين ۱۳۹۶ - ۰۹:۵۵

Sputnik — Gaining independence will "not be an easy process” as there are "internal and external impediments” to the process, Hawrami said at Erbil’s Cihan University, as quoted by the Anadolu news agency.

"Even the Kurds themselves are divided on the issue,” he said.

Hawrami also pointed out that Iraqi leadership also failed to reach consensus on the issue.
"The first view, which is relatively weak, is that Kurds are already heading for independence and there is nothing that can stop it… But this opinion is held by few people and they don't have much influence on decision-making," he said.
Another point of view implies waiting for general elections in 2018 before taking any decisions.

"The third view is entirely opposed to the KRG’s [Iraqi Kurdistan's] independence and any steps taken in this direction,” Hawrami added.

Last month Hawrami told the Rudaw media outlet that Barzani had informed UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres about the referendum on gaining independence from Iraq "at the earliest time."

Kurds are the largest ethnic minority in Turkey, Iraq, and Syria. In the latter two nations, the Kurds are fighting against the Islamic State (Daesh) terror group, while in Turkey, they are engaged in a conflict with state authorities.