Shiite Kurds challenge Iraqi Kurdistan independence

International bodies, regional powers and Baghdad are not alone in objecting to Iraqi Kurdistan's independence project. Feylis, who are Shiite Kurds, are also fundamentally opposed to Kurdistan’s possible secession from Iraq.

Immediately after the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) on June 7 announced its intention to hold a referendum on independence, most of the parties and forces concerned about Iraqi developments expressed their opposition, in part out of concern that it will lead to an escalation of regional crises. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi laid out the Iraqi government's official position June 18, stating, “The Kurdistan Regional referendum on secession is illegal, and the federal government will not support it, fund it or participate in it." The United States and Iraq's neighbors, including Turkey, Iran and Syria, oppose the country's territorial division.

The KRG, led by Massoud Barzani, head of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, announced its intention to hold a referendum, including in “Kurdish areas outside the administration of the Kurdistan region.” Iraqi Kurds outside KRG-controlled territory are mostly Feylis, who live along the border between Iran and Iraq, from south of Sulaimaniyah to north of Basra in Diyala, Wasit and Maysan provinces. There are also large numbers of Feylis in Baghdad and in the southern provinces, in particular the holy Shiite areas of Najaf and Karbala.

On June 27, Haidar Hisham, head of the Committee of Feyli Kurds in the Wasit Provincial Council, in eastern Iraq, announced the Feylis' opposition to the referendum and possible secession. He said, “The call for a referendum in the Kurdistan region of Iraq does not include the Feyli component because the referendum is geographic. In short, any referendum will be confined to Iraqi Kurdistan, despite the KRG's assertions otherwise.