Kirkuk province to vote in Kurdish independence referendum
August 29 2017 09:09 Kirkuk province to vote in Kurdish independence referendum
Iraq’s oil-producing Kirkuk region will vote in a referendum on Kurdish independence on Sept. 25, its provisional council decided on Tuesday, a move that could increase tension with Arab and Turkmen residents* Reuters reported on Tuesday.

The ethnically-mixed region is claimed by both the central government in Baghdad and the autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in northern Iraq

The vote is “definitely happening” on Sept. 25, Kirkuk Governor Najmuddin Kareem said after a majority of the provincial council voted in favor of taking part

The KRG had said it was up to the local councils of Kirkuk and three other disputed regions of Iraq to decide whether to join the vote on the independence of the Kurdish region
The vote in the disputed regions would amount to deciding whether to join the KRG or remain under the jurisdiction of the Shiite Arab-led government in Baghdad

Baghdad says the referendum is unconstitutional https://www.thebaghdadpost.com/en/story/16320/Kirkuk-province-to-vote-in-Kurdish-independence-referendum