We refuse Kurdistan’s independence at all levels, El-Gammal

CAIRO – 27 September 2017: Saad El-Gammal, head of the parliament’s Arab Affairs Committee, said that the independence of Kurdistan is refused on the Arabic, regional and international levels and that Israel may be the instigator of such a referendum.

El-Gammal said the referendum violates the provisions of the Iraqi constitution, which stipulates that Iraq is a federal and unified state and that Iraq’s wealth belongs to all Iraqi people.

The Iraqi government rejected the referendum and will not consider it constitutional. The Iraqi parliament held a meeting in the wake of the referendum and demanded that the president of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, Haider Baghdadi, to station troops to protect areas used by Kurdistan after the 2003 U.S. invasion, such as Kirkuk and Salahuddin. He explained that Kirkuk consists of various ethnicities: Arabs, Kurds, Turkmen and Christians.

“There are 30 million Kurds in the region, 5 million in Iraqi Kurdistan, and the rest in Iran, Turkey and Syria," he said, stressing that the referendum calls for disorder of the national fabric within the homeland.

El-Gammal said no country in the world has only one race, adding that "if we saw America as an example, there are hundreds of ethnicities, including Europeans and Arabs."

This is a dangerous time for Iraq because it has not yet ended its war against terrorists. It was inappropriate for Kurdistan to hold this referendum, especially at such a time, El-Gammal added.

On Monday, Iraqi Kurds decided for themselves. The results of the referendum are expected to be announced within 72 hours following the closing of the last ballot box.