Kurdish delegation heads to Baghdad for dialogue in parallel with independence vote
A Kurdistan Regional Government delegation headed to Baghdad on Saturday to conduct dialogue with the Iraqi government in tandem with the KRG's planned independence referendum on Monday, a Kurdish official said.
"The delegation will discuss the referendum but the referendum is still happening," Hoshiyar Zebari, a top adviser to Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani, told Reuters. "We said we would talk to Baghdad before, during and after the referendum."
The KRG has said the vote is meant to give its autonomous territory a legitimate mandate to achieve independence from Iraq through dialogue with Baghdad and neighbouring powers Turkey and Iran.
