Iraqi parliament demands Barzani be tried for ‘holding unconstitutional vote’

Iraq’s parliament has asked the country’s Council of Ministers to take measures against the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) following the Kurdish independence referendum.

Discussions during the parliamentary session on Wednesday boycotted by Kurdish MPs led to issuance of a list of 13 demands, the most significant of which called for taking legal action against those responsible for organizing, including the Kurdistan Region President Masoud Barzani.

The Iraqi parliament also mandated Baghdad take strict measures against the Kurdistan region, including the deployment of armed in the Kurdish Peshmerga-controlled areas.

“All the border crossings outside of the control of the Federal Government of Iraq will be closed, and all goods exchanged at those borders are considered illegal,” the list of 13 demands stated, urging neighboring countries to comply with Iraqi demands.

RELATED: Will oil-rich Kirkuk be the center of an imminent Arab-Kurdish conflict?

Almost 93 percent of Iraq’s Kurds voted to create an independent state, the High Elections and Referendum Commission said on Wednesday, in a referendum that has angered the Baghdad government and regional powers Turkey and Iran.

The outcome has caused anger in Baghdad, where parliament, in a session boycotted by Kurdish lawmakers, asked Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to send troops to the Kurdish-held region of Kirkuk to take control of its oilfields.

Kurdish Peshmerga forces took Kirkuk, a multi-ethnic region, in 2014 when the Iraqi army fled in the face of ISIS which overran about a third of Iraq. The Kurds prevented Kirkuk’s huge oil resources from falling into the militants’ hands.

“The government has to bring back the oilfields of Kirkuk under the control of the oil ministry,” the resolution backed by parliament in Baghdad said.