The 2017 Kurdistan Region independence referendum was a failed bid at Kurdish independence from the Republic of Iraq. It was held on 25 September 2017 in Kurdistan Region, with preliminary results showing approximately 92.73 percent of votes cast in favor of independence. Despite reporting that the independence referendum would be non-binding, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) characterized it as binding, although they claimed that an affirmative result would trigger the start of state building and negotiations with Iraq rather than an immediate declaration of independence of Kurdistan. The referendum's legality was rejected by the federal government of Iraq and the Federal Supreme Court. The referendum prompted a military confrontation, and after their defeat, the KRG eventually conceded and accepted the Supreme Court's ruling that no Iraqi governorate is allowed to secede.
It was originally planned to be held in 2014 amidst controversy and dispute between the regional and federal governments. Calls for Kurdish independence had been going on for years, with an unofficial 2005 referendum resulting in 98.98% voting in favor of independence. These longstanding calls gained impetus following the Northern Iraq offensive by Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant during the Iraqi Civil War in which Baghdad-controlled forces abandoned some areas, which were then taken by the Peshmerga and controlled de facto by the Kurds.
The referendum was announced and delayed on several occasions as Kurdish forces co-operated with the Iraqi central government for the liberation of Mosul, but by April 2017, it was being seen as happening some time in 2017. On 7 June 2017, Kurdish President Masoud Barzani held a meeting with the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), and other ruling parties, where the independence referendum was confirmed to be held on 25 September 2017.
The referendum led to a military conflict with the Iraqi central government, in which the KRG lost 40 percent of its territory and its main source of revenue, the Kirkuk oil fields. Following the loss, Kurdistan Region president Masoud Barzani resigned and the referendum was thus effectively abandoned.
Background
The Kurdistan Regional Government had criticized Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, claiming that his rule was divisive. After the central government began withholding funding to the Kurdistan Regional Government in January 2014, the KRG attempted to export oil via the northern pipeline into Turkey in May, but the Iraqi government lobbied international governments to block the export and sale of this oil.
As jihadis affiliated with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) took control of much of western and northern Iraq in June 2014, the Iraqi military in those areas largely disintegrated and abandoned their positions. The Peshmerga stepped into this vacuum, taking control of the city of Kirkuk and other northern areas long claimed by the Kurdistan Regional Government but until then outside its formal control. In these disputed areas, Kurdish forces under the regional government spearheaded a "concerted campaign" to displace Arab communities in northern Iraq, actions that could amount to war crimes, according to a report by Amnesty International.
Al-Maliki's government was widely blamed for the failure of the security forces and for Sunni Arab dissatisfaction with the central government, and international and domestic calls for a new prime minister became widespread. On 1 July, Kurdish president Masoud Barzani announced his intention to call a referendum on independence sometime in 2014 on the grounds that the country had been "effectively partitioned" already.
In September 2014, after Maliki was replaced as prime minister by Haider al-Abadi, Kurdish leaders agreed to postpone the referendum while they focused on the fight against ISIL.
On 3 February 2016, Rudaw.net reported that Kurdistan President Masoud Barzani told KRG legislators that the referendum would be held sometime before the 2016 United States presidential election in early November. On 23 March, Barzani said, in an interview with Al-Monitor media website, that the referendum would take place before October 2016. However, in late October, Prime Minister of Kurdistan Region Nechirvan Barzani confirmed that the referendum would not be held until after Mosul had been liberated.
In August 2016, Haider Al-Abadi said that he saw self-determination as an "undisputed right".
News reports from December 2016 said Kurdistan's Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani had suggested the region could push for independence from Baghdad once the ongoing battle to liberate Mosul from ISIL was complete.
In early April 2017, as the liberation of Mosul was progressing, the ruling political parties of Kurdistan Region, the KDP and PUK, announced their goal of holding an independence referendum in 2017.
On 7 June 2017, Kurdish President Masoud Barzani announced that the referendum would take place on 25 September 2017. Barzani's assistant Hemin Hawrami said the referendum will also take place in Kirkuk, Makhmour, Sinjar and Khanaqin regions. All of these areas are disputed and are claimed by the central government. Senior Kurdish official Hoshyar Zebari said a "Yes" vote in the referendum would not mean an automatic declaration of independence of Kurdistan, but will "strengthen the Kurds' hand" in talks on self-determination with the central government.
On three separate occasions, Assyrians from Alqosh protested against the removal of their mayor by the KDP-dominated Nineveh Provincial Council. The residents of Alqosh rejected the idea of their town being a "disputed area" and demanded the immediate reinstatement of their former mayor. The removal, which occurred two months before the referendum, caused protests because the mayor was replaced by a KDP member from Alqosh.
On 14 August, a delegation from the KRG met with Prime Minister Abadi and Vice-President Maliki in Baghdad to discuss the upcoming referendum and affairs between the KRG and Iraq. Romeo Hakkari, the Assyrian representative of the delegation and head of the Bet-Nahrain Democratic Party said that in addition to the meeting with Iraqi officials, they would meet with foreign missions in Baghdad.
The KRG said referendum planning and implementation of the vote was up to the local councils of the disputed regions. The Shingal District Council expressed its support on 30 July for the KRG's efforts to include the Shingal area in the referendum. The Mayoral Council of Khanaqin on 16 August discussed the issue and decided to hold the referendum in their region. The Bashiqa Town Council voted the next day and decided to take part in the referendum.
After a rare high-level meeting between the Iranian military chief of staff Major General Mohammad Bagheri and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Ankara on 16 August, a joint statement "voiced strong opposition" to the referendum.
The local council of Mandali, whose population includes both Arabs and Kurds, had voted in favour of including the town in the referendum on 17 August. Arab residents however protested against the decision on 10 September. A day later, the city council withdrew the decision of participation in the referendum while Mandali's mayor, Hoshiya Ismail, was dismissed from his position.
On 29 August, the Kirkuk Provincial Council voted on the issue of holding the referendum in Kirkuk. Of the 41 council members, 24 attended with 23 voting in favor of holding the referendum while one abstained. The remaining 17 members, all of whom were Turkmen and Arabs, boycotted the vote. On 14 September, the Iraqi parliament voted to dismiss Najmiddin Karim as the Governor of Kirkuk, a decision requested by al-Abadi after Kirkuk's provincial assembly voted to take part in the referendum. Karim said he will not follow the dismissal order and will stay in office. The provincial council meanwhile condemned the decision of the parliament with council head Ribwar al-Talabani claiming only the council had the power to remove him.
Campaigning for the referendum officially began on 5 September. The region's electoral commission said campaigning would last for 18 days with the Iraqi Kurdish diaspora being able to vote on 23 September, two days ahead of the main poll.
The Iraqi parliament rejected the referendum on 12 September. The Kurdistan Region Parliament approved a plan to hold the referendum on 15 September. 68 out of 111 lawmakers attended the session with Gorran boycotting it. Iraq's Supreme Court on 18 September ordered the suspension of the referendum to examine its constitutionality. Barzani however vowed to go ahead with the referendum.
It has been reported that pro-AKP news outlets in Turkey including Yeni Akit, Akşam, Internet Haber and Yeni Safak have been circulating a fake news story about "Zionist support" for an "insidious Kurdish plan" by Barzani and Kurdish Jews to settle 200,000 Jews in the region should Kurdistan become independent. The report has been disputed, including by Kurdish analysts, as baseless and fake news, and has been described as part of a media offensive by Turkey against Israel, while Kurdish analyst Diliman Abdulkader considers the reports an attempt to "destroy Kurdish credibility in the region by associating them with Israel and playing on local prejudices against people of Jewish faith".
Turkey decided to remove broadcaster Rudaw Media Network (Rudaw), which is affiliated to the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in northern Iraq, from its satellite broadcasting on the same day voting took place on the independence referendum in the KRG.
Polling
One poll, held between 25 and 27 August, which covered the provinces of Erbil, Sulaymaniyah, Duhok, Halabja and Kirkuk, as well as the cities of Khanagin, Jalawla and Mandali within Diyala, showed intention to vote yes at 52.9%, intention to vote no at 25.6%, 3.6% not voting and the remainder of 17.9% being undecided with most of these indicating that they intended to vote yes but were also carefully watching the situation in case it deteriorated.
Ballot
The ballot was available in Kurdish, Arabic, Turkish and Assyrian. The Rudaw Media Network translated the ballot question to English as "Do you want the Kurdistan Region and the Kurdistani areas outside the Region to become an independent state?"
Official reactions to the referendum
UN member states
Iraq and regional countries
- Iraq: Saad al-Hadithi, a spokesman for the Iraqi Prime Minister, said, "Any decision concerning the future of Iraq must take into account the constitutional provisions, it is an Iraqi decision and not one party alone. All Iraqis must have a say in defining the future of their homeland. No single party can determine the future of Iraq in isolation from the others."
- Israel: Prior to the referendum, Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel "supports the legitimate efforts of the Kurdish people to achieve their own state". Israel became the first state to endorse an independent Kurdistan.