The Southern Kurdistan High Referendum Council issued a statement on the allegations that the referendum in Southern Kurdistan has been “postponed” and said the referendum will be held on the determined date.

Some media outlets in Southern Kurdistan had reported that the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) Secretary General Jalal Talabani’s son Pawel Talabani said they are “considering the alternatives proposed by the UN, the US, the UK and France” and that “the KDP and the PUK have made the decision to postpone the referendum” in Facebook posts.

The claim was picked up by many media outlets in Southern Kurdistan and re-reported as breaking news. KDP media claimed that the allegations did not reflect the truth.

The Southern Kurdistan High Referendum Council’s statement on the matter includes the following:

“Some media outlets claimed that the KDP and the PUK accepted the proposal set forth by the UN, the US, the UK and France to postpone the referendum and that the referendum will not be held, based on Pawel Talabani’s social media posts. The reports in question are false, and have no basis. The referendum will be held on the determined date.”