On Wednesday 20 September, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini criticised the holding of a referendum on 25 September on the independence of Kurdistan. Tension has been mounting since 18 September when Iraq's supreme court decided to suspend the referendum in Kurdistan – a decision rejected by Kurdish President Masoud Barzani.
"The European Union reiterates its steadfast support for Iraq's unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity. Unilateral action, such as the proposed referendum, is counterproductive and must be avoided", Mogherini states in a press release.
While recognising that it was important to resolve the "outstanding" issues between Erbil and Baghdad, Mogherini said that this should be done through "a peaceful and constructive dialogue leading to a mutually agreed solution based on the full application of the provisions of the Iraqi constitution". This constitution recognises the region of Kurdistan as an autonomous entity and establishes a new form of relationship with this Kurdish region, but preserves the territorial limits of Iraq.
Mogherini announced that the EU offers its support to the UN initiative to facilitate a dialogue, if the UN requests this. The UN proposes to broker an agreement within three years between Iraqi Kurdistan and the federal government in Baghdad on the status of the autonomous region. The organisation recommends immediate negotiations between Erbil and Baghdad in exchange for a postponement of the referendum.
In their conclusions on 19 June, without naming Kurdistan, the foreign affairs ministers had underlined that the general interest of the Iraqi people is better served by dialogue and cooperation. They called for unilateral measures to be avoided and for the outstanding questions to be resolved by respecting the arrangements of the constitution (see EUROPE 11811). They had also called on the Iraqi federal government and the regional government of Kurdistan to engage in a constructive dialogue on all issues in the political and economic sphere, including the contested internal boundaries.
Barzani believes that faced with "a religious and denominational state", there is "no other choice" than to organise this referendum in order to preserve the rights of the Kurds. The Kurds want an independent state straddling Iraq, Syria, Turkey and Iran. There are 4.7 million Kurds living in Iraq – in other words about 20% of the population. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)