92 percent voted 'yes'
Iraq's Kurds announced a massive "yes" vote for independence yesterday following a referendum that has incensed Baghdad and sparked international concern.
Official results showed 92.73 percent of voters backing statehood in Monday's non-binding referendum, which Iraq's central government rejected as illegal. Turnout was put at 72.61 percent.
Longtime Iraqi Kurd leader Massud Barzani said the vote would not lead to an immediate declaration of independence and should instead open the door to negotiations.
But Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi told lawmakers yesterday there was no question of using its results as the basis for talks.
"The referendum must be annulled and dialogue initiated in the framework of the constitution. We will never hold talks based on the results of the referendum," Abadi said. "We will impose Iraqi law in the entire region of Kurdistan under the constitution," he said.
Pressure has been mounting on the Kurds since the vote, not just from Baghdad but also from Ankara, with Turkey threatening a range of measures including cutting off key export routes for the region. The United Nations and United States also had objection.
It has raised fears of unrest and the possibility of a military confrontation involving the Kurds, who are key allies in internationally backed offensives against the jihadists of the Islamic State group.
Baghdad has steadily pushed back against the vote.
Lawmakers on Wednesday passed a resolution calling on Abadi to "take all necessary measures to maintain Iraq's unity" including by deploying security forces to disputed areas.
Abadi said Tuesday he would ban all international flights to and from Kurdistan in three days unless airports in its main cities Arbil and Sulaimaniyah were placed under his government's control.
Airlines from Turkey as well as Lebanon and Egypt yesterday said they will suspend operations to and from Iraq's Kurdistan region following Baghdad's threat.
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