US says it does not recognise Kurdish independence poll

The US has said it does not recognize the Kurdish Regional Government’s (KRG) “unilateral referendum” on independence from Iraq, the State Department said on Friday.

The vote and the results lack legitimacy and we continue to support a united, federal, democratic and prosperous Iraq, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said in a statement.

Tillerson said the U.S. remains concerned about the fallout from the poll in which Kurds overwhelmingly voted to leave Iraq, emphasizing that before the vote Washington worked with Erbil and Baghdad “to pursue a more productive framework and to promote stability and prosperity for the people of the Kurdistan region.

These aspirations, ultimately, cannot be advanced through unilateral measures such as this referendum,” he said.

The poll has been denounced by Iraq and its neighbors, who view it as illegitimate, and Baghdad has moved to ban international flights into the KRG and close foreign missions in the Kurdish region.