Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani announced Tuesday that Iraq’s Kurds will hold an independence referendum within months, AFP reports.
“We will hold a referendum in Kurdistan and we will respect and be bound by the decision of our people and hope that others will do likewise,” Barzani said.
Barzani said the time is ripe for a vote on an independent Kurdish state as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant continues to take over and control large swathes of Iraqi territory.
He added that the exact date of the vote will be decided by parliament and will most likely take place in a matter of months.
According to AFP, Turkey has said it would oppose independence for Iraq’s Kurds.
