Germany: Iraq’s Kurdish region playing with fire

By Ayhan Simsek

BERLIN (AA) - Germany strongly warned the Iraqi Kurdish regional government on Friday against holding a unilateral independence referendum.

Speaking at a news conference in Berlin, Foreign Ministry spokesman Martin Schaefer said such a controversial move could further inflame tensions in the region.

“When someone in this region plays with the idea of changing borders against the will of others, or plays with the idea of creating a new state, he really plays with fire,” said Schaefer.

His comments came after Masoud Barzani, Iraq’s Kurdish Regional Government president, announced that the region will hold an independence referendum on Sept. 25.

Schaefer underlined that Iraq’s central government and the Kurdish regional government are already dealing with a number of unresolved issues, including the status of the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk.

“Casting doubt on the unity of Iraq, and putting this into a new test, cannot be in the interest of Iraq, this cannot be in the interest of the international community, in any case, it is not in the interest of Germany,” he stressed.

Schaefer said Germany would continue to support the goal of a unified Iraq, with a functioning democracy under the rule of law.