The Gorran (Change) Movement and the Kurdistan Islamic Society (Komala Îslamiya Kurdistan) announced that they support the international community’s call to postpone the referendum planned for September 25 in Southern Kurdistan in a joint statement they issued.

The joint statement of Gorran and Komala said: “Self-determination and independence are legitimate rights of the Kurdish people” and continued: “Our people have strived for independence in all four parts for over a century. The referendum is a tool to achieve this end as well. But holding the referendum now will increase the existing issues and won’t serve the strategy of the Kurdish people.”

Gorran and Komala stated that holding the referendum in disputed territories like Kirkuk will open the gates for a great war and added: “But not holding the referendum in these areas will mean that we have given up on them. And that means giving up half of Southern Kurdistan.”

The joint statement concluded with: “The United Nations, the US and some European Countries say they can act as intermediaries between the central government and the Kurdistan Regional Government in return for not holding the referendum. We demand that the suggestions of international forces be heeded and the referendum be postponed.”