- Title: Kurds rally in Iraq calling for an independent state
- Date: 18th May 2016
- Summary: ERBIL, IRAQ (MAY 17, 2016) (REUTERS) PEOPLE FLYING KURDISH FLAGS ALONGSIDE TRUCK DECORATED WITH FLAGS
- Embargoed: 2nd June 2016 13:13
- Keywords: Iraq Erbil Kurds Kurdishtan rally independent state
- Location: ERBIL, IRAQ
- City: ERBIL, IRAQ
- Country: Iraq
- Topics: Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA0014IC3Z2T
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Waving flags and wearing traditional dress, Iraqi Kurds gathered for an independence rally on Tuesday (May 17) in the Kurdish regional capital Erbil.
People gathered outside Erbil's citadel to voice their support for a call in February by Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani to hold an independence referendum.
Kurds are often described as the world's largest ethnic group without their own state, considering themselves victims of a pact that partitioned their homeland between Turkey, Iran, Syria and Iraq after World War One.
The rally marked 100 year anniversary of the pact - the 1916 Sykes-Picot Agreement that divided up most of the Arab territories that had been under the rule of the Ottoman Empire.
"It is due time for independence. We have our land and we have money and me as a woman I support a call by President Massoud Barzani to hold a referendum. Yes to referendum and yes to Kurdistan's independence," said Kurdish Amal Ibrahim who took part in the rally.
"Kurdish people have the right to have independence and the Kurdish people have the right to enjoy what they deserve. This will further boost stability in the region as the Kurdistan region has a vital role in the stability of the region. We are proud to be part of the international coalition against IS," added Erbil Governor Nawzad Hadi.
President Barzani had called in February for a non-binding referendum on independence from the rest of Iraq.
The chaos created by Islamic State's occupation of swathes of Iraq and Syria since in 2014 has given Iraq's Kurds a chance to further their long-held dream of independence.
The region's peshmerga forces have driven back the hardline Sunni Muslim militants in northern Iraq, earning them international recognition.
But the Kurds are currently struggling to avert an economic collapse brought on by a global slump in oil prices.
Member of Kurdish parliament Omeed said that the time had come for Kurds to gain an independent state.
"All the social, political and economic circumstances that led to the Sykes-Picot Agreement have totally changed now, as the international community now supports the Kurdish people. Kurdistan's territory has become a field to fight terrorism and as you can see the peshmerga and the Kurdish people were able to defeat IS. Today is the right time to make a step forward towards realizing Kurdistan's independence," Khushnaw said.
The Kurdish region, which has enjoyed autonomy from Baghdad since U.S. intervention after the 1991 Gulf War, has also seen almost none of the insecurity and violence that has bedevilled the rest of Iraq since Saddam Hussein's overthrow in 2003.
In recent years Iraq's Kurds have sought to maximize their autonomy, building their own pipeline to Turkey and exporting oil independently as relations with the federal government in Baghdad frayed over power- and revenue-sharing.
Regional powers have historically opposed Kurdish aspirations for independence, especially Syria, Turkey and Iran - neighbouring states with large Kurdish minorities of their own. The United States also wants the Kurds to remain part of Iraq. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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