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Barzani to seek protection if threatened over Kurdish independence bid

June 12, 2017 at 3:05 pm

Kurdish President, Masoud Barzani, said he would seek international protection if Iran or Turkey threatened the Kurds over their independence project, Saudi Okaz newspaper reported.

According to the paper, Kurdish sources said during a meeting of the Kurdistan Regional Government that Iran had issued a severe warning to the Kurds that it will punish them if they proceeded with their project to gain independence from Iraq.

Read: Germany warns Iraqi Kurds against independence vote

“The Iraqi parliament has also threatened to use military force to prevent the holding of the referendum in the Kurdish areas on September 25,” Barzani added.

“Threats, whatever their source, will not frighten the Kurds who have decided to proceed with the independence project,” the Saudi newspaper reported him saying.

Barzani pointed out that the reason is “the Iraqi government and political leadership’s policy of overriding the constitution, the marginalisation and neglect of the Kurds’ rights and allowing foreign countries to interfere in their affairs.”