The central government in Baghdad opposes the plan, which was announced earlier this year by Kurdish leader
Massoud Barzani... hereditary head of the Kurdish Democratic Party, maybe a little too close to the Medes and the Persians for most people's tastes...
’s Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).
Iraq’s neighbors, Iran and
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire....
, have also expressed their opposition to the plan as they fear an independent Kurdish state could fuel separatism among their own Kurdish populations.
The parliament met in the KRG capital, Erbil, in northern Iraq.
Western powers worried
Barzani earlier on Friday said the vote won’t be delayed, despite pressing requests from the United States and other western powers worried that the tension between Baghdad and Erbil would distract from the war on ISIS murderous Moslems who continue to occupy parts of Iraq and Syria.
"We still haven’t heard a proposal that can be an alternative to the Kurdistan referendum," Barzani said in a speech at a rally in the Kurdish region, referring to talks held with US and western envoys this week in Erbil. "The vote won’t be delayed," he added.
Gorran, the main opposition movement to Barzani’s Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), boycotted the parliament session in Erbil. It was a dispute between Gorran and the KDP that caused the assembly to suspend its sessions in 2015.
US urges Iraqi Kurdistan to call off independence vote
The United States Friday urged Iraqi Kurdistan to call off plans for an independence referendum later this month, warning the vote was distracting from efforts to stabilize the region and combat ISIS group.
"Holding the referendum in disputed areas is particularly provocative and destabilizing," the White House said a statement. "We therefore call on the Kurdistan Regional Government to call off the referendum and enter into serious and sustained dialogue with Baghdad."
Planned for September 25, the vote faces strong opposition from the federal government in Baghdad as well as neighboring Iran and Turkey, which fear it will stoke separatist aspirations among their own Kurdish minorities.