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Iranian Military Chief Slammed Over Opposition to Iraqi Kurdistan Independence

© AFP 2023 / AHMAD AL-RUBAYEA flag of the autonomous Kurdistan region flies as Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga fighters take position to monitor the area from their front line post in Bashiqa, a town 13 kilometres north-east of Mosul (File)
A flag of the autonomous Kurdistan region flies as Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga fighters take position to monitor the area from their front line post in Bashiqa, a town 13 kilometres north-east of Mosul (File) - Sputnik International
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Iraqi Kurdistan's Ministry of Peshmerga Affairs on Friday slammed Iran's top military official over criticizing the Kurdish region's independence referendum.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — On Thursday, Iranian media reported that Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Maj. Gen. Mohammad Hossein Bagheri expressed opposition to the Kurdish independence referendum slated for September in the talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara, saying that the vote would destabilize Iraq as well as neighboring countries.

"We announce to everyone that talking about the rights of the people of Kurdistan is not the duty of [Bagheri] and this will be considered as a blatant intervention in the internal affairs of Kurdistan," the ministry said in a statement, as quoted by the Rudaw news agency.

The ministry added that holding the referendum was "a natural and just right of the people of Kurdistan and no one other than the people of Kurdistan has the right to talk about it."

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The Kurds, making up about 20 percent of the Iraqi population, have been seeking self-governance for decades. In 2005, Iraq’s Constitution recognized Kurdistan as an autonomous region, run by the Kurdistan Regional Government.

In June, Masoud Barzani, the president of the Iraqi Kurdistan, set September 25 as the date for an independence referendum. The move provoked harsh criticism from Baghdad claiming that the referendum would violate the country's constitution.

In response to Barzani's announcement, Iranian authorities have expressed support for maintaining Iraq's territorial integrity. Turkey, also having a large Kurdish minority, has also expressed opposition to the Kurdish independence.

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