Iraqi Kurds Offer to Freeze Independence Referendum Results

According to the Kurdistan Democratic Party-affiliated Rudaw Media Network based in Erbil, KRG statement said, "The dangerous situation and tension that faces Iraq and Kurdistan forces all of us to live up to the historical responsibility and to not allow the situation to lead to further war and confrontation between the Iraqi forces and the Peshmerga (Kurdish forces).”

"The confrontation between the Iraqi forces and the Peshmerga since October 16, 2017 has caused damage to both sides. It may also result in continued bloodshed and result in cutting the social relations between the Iraqi components,” the statement added.

"It is a fact that a war between the two sides will not have a winner. It will instead lead both sides to great damages in all aspects of life. That is why, from the perspective of our responsibility towards the people of Kurdistan and Iraq, we propose the following to the government of Iraq, the Iraqi public opinion, and to the world,” it noted.

"The immediate cessation of fighting and every kind of military operations in the Kurdistan Region as well as freezing the outcome of the referendum that was held in the Iraqi Kurdistan," the KRG proposed.

It also offered, "Beginning an open dialogue between the Kurdistan Regional Government and the federal government on the basis of the Iraqi constitution.”

Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government’s referendum which was declared illegal by the country’s federal government resulted in tensions among the major Kurdish parties including the Erbil-based ruling KDP and its rival, Patriotic Union of Kurdistan in Sulaymaniyah.

Following the referendum, Iraqi government imposed a blockade against the Kurdish region and the country’s army entered the disputed areas including the oil-rich Kirkuk to restore federal government sovereignty over disputed lands claimed by Kurds.

Iraq’s neighbors including Iran and Turkey called the Erbil referendum destabilizing and cut their ties with the KRG.

The international community including the UN Security Council, the US and many other countries who are supportive of the Kurdish autonomous region declared their opposition to the KRG move.