Dushanbe, 04.02.2016. (NIAT «Khovar»). — The Leeader of Iraq’s Autonomous Kurdistan Region has declared that the «time has come» for the country’s Kurds to hold a referendum on statehood, his office said on Wednesday.
The call was made by Massoud Barzani, who has been in power since 2005. However, he did not say when the proposed vote would take place.
«The time has come and the situation is now suitable for the Kurdish people to make a decision through a referendum on their fate,» Barzani said in a statement on his website.
He also added, «This referendum would not necessarily lead to immediate declaration of statehood, but rather to know the will and opinion of the people of Kurdistan about their future,» said Mr Barzani, who has remained inpower despite the expiration of his term as president.