Barzani: UN mandated solution only way to postpone Kurdish referendum

LONDON - 22 September 2017: Iraq’s Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani said on Friday that a postpone of the independence referendum slated for Monday is only possible if there is an offer of a UN mandated solution with a prescribed agenda and timeline.

In an interview with The Guardian newspaper, the Kurdish leader said the majority of the global community had underestimated the determination of the Kurds.

It had also, he claimed, made a miscalculation in believing that his intention to hold the ballot was a "pressure card" designed to draw concessions, rather than a tangible first step towards a long-held goal of sovereignty.

"From world war one until now, we are not a part of Iraq," he said. "It’s a theocratic, sectarian state. We have our geography, land and culture. We have our own language. We refuse to be subordinates."

"The parliament in Baghdad is not a federal parliament. It’s a chauvinistic, sectarian parliament. Trust is below zero with Baghdad," Barzani said at his presidential palace in the mountains beyond Erbil – the ruined city of Mosul 50 miles away, a border with Iran to the east, and Syria and Turkey to the west.

The language coming from Baghdad in the south has been equally forceful, predicting violence if the referendum goes ahead.

And Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi says that if that happens, military intervention will follow.