Israel becomes the first country to officially endorse Kurdish independence as PM Netanyahu announced that the Jewish State “supports the legitimate efforts of the Kurdish people to attain a state of its own.”
• The referendum which takes place in Turkey, Iraq and Iran on Sept. 25, have all three countries opposing the vote.
By the Associated Press and Israel Hayom Staff
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that Israel supports Kurdish independence.
The statement, made ahead of a key referendum on the matter set for Sept. 25, said that Israel rejects the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, and considers it a terrorist organization, but noted that Israel “supports the legitimate efforts of the Kurdish people to attain a state of its own.”
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The referendum will be held in the three governorates that make up the Kurds’ self-ruled region in Iraq, as well as disputed areas that are controlled by Kurdish forces but claimed by Baghdad, including the oil-rich province of Kirkuk.
Israel has long been sympathetic to the Kurds and has now become the first country to officially endorse them in the vote.
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Meanwhile, Turkey has urged Iraqi Kurds to call off the vote on independence.
Speaking to reporters Monday, Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag said the referendum will add to problems in the conflict-ridden region.
“This referendum is of no benefit to [Kurdish regional President Masoud] Barzani, it is of no benefit to Kurds, it is of no benefit to the people of the region,” he said.
Turkey, which has a large Kurdish population and is battling Kurdish rebels, has close ties with Iraq’s autonomous region but is strongly opposed to an independent Kurdish state.
Barzani defended the referendum, saying it was “entirely legal.”
“Kirkuk will remain as safe and secure. We will not compromise Kirkuk’s identity. We would rather give up our own rights than to compromise the rights of the ethnic minorities that live here,” he said.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has rejected the referendum and called on Kurdish leaders to come to Baghdad for dialogue.
Turkey and Iran, concerned about separatist leanings among their own Kurdish populations, are also opposed to the referendum, and the U.N. mission to Iraq has said it will not be “engaged in any way or form” in the vote.
View original Israel Hayom publication at:
http://www.israelhayom.com/2017/09/13/pm-netanyahu-says-israel-endorses-kurdish-independence/
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