The Kurds now want the northern oil-rich province of Kirkuk and parts of Nineveh, Diyala and Salahudin provinces to be incorporated into their region.
The Kurds used to live under the iron-fisted rule by former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. But since the end of the U.S.-led first Gulf War in 1991, they have gained a high degree of autonomy.
Masoud Barzani, president of the Kurdistan Regional Government, has been the leading figure pushing hard for the independence referendum.
For one reason, Barzani, leader of the Kurdish Democratic Party (KDP), has exceeded his term in office that ended in 2017, and hoped to start the process of seeking independence before the next elections scheduled in early November.
Moreover, many believe that Barzani hopes to take advantage of the referendum to establish his status as the leader of the Kurdish independence movement.
"Barzani wants to accomplish independence through referendum and gain a political card in the region as the leader of the Kurdish movement," Nursin Atesoglu Guney, dean of the economic, administrative and social sciences faculty at Bahcesehir Cyprus University in Istanbul, was quoted by the Turkish paper Daily Sabah as saying.
REFERENDUM AS FIRST CONCRETE STEP TOWARD KURDISH INDEPENDENCE
A "yes" vote in the upcoming referendum does not mean the immediate independence of the Kurdistan region. Rather, it would be the first concrete step in the Kurdish movement toward declaring independence.
【国际英语资讯:News Analysis: Controversial referendum by Iraqi Kurds raises fears about opening Pandoras】相关文章:
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