Kurdistan’s brothers in independence: Catalans
Date: 10.08.2017
Author: Znar Shino
Source: Rudaw
Catalan officials and its people are well aware of the Kurdistan Region and its upcoming Kurdish referendum on independence and are waiting to see the international community’s reaction.
“The referendum in Kurdistan will be held one week before our referendum,” Quim Arrufat told Rudaw in Barcelona.
The former Catalan MP who is organizing a campaign for the yes-vote believes the international community will have its eyes trained on Kurdistan next month.
“And this is very important for us, because in that week maybe we will see … different international powers recognize the result of the Kurdish referendum and maybe giving Kurdistan the status of a state, of an independent state, it will be very useful for us,” Arrufat added.
Catalonia has enjoyed varying degrees of autonomy over the past century from the Spanish governments in Madrid.
One man said the people of Catalonia and of the Basque support “all the other people who do not have freedom yet.”
The Catalan region will hold a referendum on independence on October 1, six days after the Kurdistan Region.
Catalan lawmakers have passed legislation to make their referendum binding.
“We’re pro-freedom, pro-liberties and pro the right of people to decide peacefully,” he concluded. “And I think it’s the same cause of the Kurds.”
According to their government’s statistics, there are about 4.8 million Catalans living in their four provinces within Spain. There are an estimated 200,000 other Catalans around the world, according to the Museum of the History of Catalonia.
In 2006, Catalans approved a referendum promising greater autonomy, but the Constitutional Court of Spain in 2010 declared some of the articles of the statute non-valid.
In November 2015, Catalan lawmakers also voted to approve a plan for secession from Spain by 2017.
Catalonia’s parliament approved new procedures in June allowing the region to declare independence within 48 hours of the referendum’s passage.
