The Iraqi Kurdistan Region Independence Referendum in 2017: Causes and Results

The research boils down to studying the conditions that arose as n a result of the Kurdistan Region's decision to hold the referendum. The Kurdish people demanded their rights from the beginning of their annexation to Iraq until the holding of the referendum in 2017, and with the end of the danger of ISIS in Iraq, the Kurds’ demand for an independent state became increasing despite the internal political differences and the economic difficulties that the region suffers from, as their demand to hold the referendum is a result of suffering from injustice, persecution and constitutional violations caused to them by the Iraqi government, especially the failure to implement Article 140 of the Constitution. However, holding the referendum did not lead to independence, and the Kurdish people did not obtain their legitimate demands. Rather, it led to a regression of the role and status of the region and the deterioration of their relations at the internal and external levels, especially internally, which reached the level of resorting to the military operation to resolve issues and reject the claim for independence. This coincided with the international community's lack of action towards this Kurdish demand. All those relations that existed between the Kurdistan Region and the outside world since its establishment have reached a complex level after the referendum.