Irbil, Iraq (CNN) Iraqi Kurds have voted overwhelmingly in favor of declaring independence from Iraq in a historic and controversial referendum that could have wide-ranging implications for the Middle East.

More than 92% of the roughly 3 million people who cast valid ballots on Monday voted "yes" to independence, according to official results announced by the Kurdish electoral commission on Wednesday.

The outcome represents a step towards independence for the semi-autonomous region in northern Iraq and areas it claims, and puts Kurdish authorities on a collision course with their counterparts in Baghdad.

The poll took place despite vehement opposition from the Iraqi government , which described the poll as unconstitutional and has authorized use of force against Iraqi Kurdistan.

The Kurdistan Regional Government, however, says the referendum will give it a mandate for talks to secede from Iraq, although Baghdad has already ruled out such talks.

On Wednesday, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi called for the referendum to be annulled and for the KRG to engage in dialogue as guided by the constitution. His comments come a day after he ordered the Kurds to yield control of their airports to the central government by Friday.

Several international flight operators have announced plans to cease flights to the region on Friday, including Egypt Air and Royal Jordanian Airlines. Iran previously closed its airspace last Sunday.

Nearly all neighboring regional powers objected to the referendum, warning that independence could further destabilize the region.

"Let's engage in a serious dialogue and become good neighbors," Barzani said during a televised speech.

The vote was held across the autonomous region and in disputed territories including the oil-rich city of Kirkuk, a flashpoint city claimed by both sides.

It comes as Kurdish forces play an instrumental role in the fight against ISIS in Iraq and Syria. In helping to eliminate the terror group, Kurdish leaders appear to have expected the backing of the international community in pursuing nationalist aspirations.

But the referendum has received little support outside northern Iraq.

Both Iran and Turkey have sizable Kurdish minorities and fear the ballot might galvanize independence movements in their countries.

The United States, United Kingdom and the United Nations denounced the vote amid concerns that it could detract from the campaign against ISIS.

As voters cast their ballots Monday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan described the referendum as "illegal" and suggested Turkey could cut off oil exports from northern Iraq, depriving the KRG of a key source of revenue.

Israel is the only country in the region that supported the vote, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu endorsing what he described as "the legitimate efforts of the Kurdish people to achieve their own state" ahead of the vote.

European Union leaders issued a statement on Wednesday calling on all parties involved to "exercise calm and restraint" and to resolve their issues through peaceful dialogue.

Numbering 30 million, Kurds make up a sizable minority in a number of Middle Eastern countries, including Iraq, Iran, Syria and Turkey.

Despite nearly a century of Kurdish nationalist movements in various countries, the Kurds have never had a nation of their own. </s> ERBIL: 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.

Voters were asked to say "yes" or "no" to the question: "Do you want the Kurdistan Region and Kurdistani areas outside the (Kurdistan) Region to become an independent country?"More than 72 percent of eligible voters, or 3.3 million people, cast a ballot, with 92.73 percent of valid votes in favour of "yes" and 7.27 percent in favour of "no.

Meanwhile, Baghdad piled pressure on Iraq’s Kurds on Wednesday, demanding they cancel their overwhelming vote for independence while parliament urged the Iraqi central government to send troops to take control of vital oil fields held by Kurdish forces.

Stepping up efforts to isolate autonomous Kurdish-held northern Iraq, which backed secession in a referendum on Monday that angered neighbouring countries, Baghdad demanded that foreign governments close their diplomatic missions in the Kurdish capital, Erbil.

Final results released on Wednesday showed nearly 93 percent in favour of independence, and 7.3 percent against. More than 3.3 million people, or 72 percent of eligible voters, took part in Monday’s ballot, according to the electoral commission.

The referendum has fuelled fears of a new regional conflict. A delegation from Iraq’s armed forces headed to neighbouring Iran to coordinate military efforts, apparently as part of retaliatory measures taken by the government in Baghdad following the vote.

Iran and Turkey also oppose any move towards Kurdish secession and their armies have started joint exercises near their borders with Iraqi Kurdistan in recent days. Iraq and Turkey have also held joint military drills.

Foreign airlines began suspending flights to Kurdish airports after the Iraqi Civil Aviation Authority said international flights to Erbil and Sulaimaniya would be suspended at 1500 GMT on Tuesday.

Kurdish authorities rejected Baghdad’s demands that they should annul the referendum as a condition for dialogue and hand over control of their international airports. Turkey, which has threatened to impose sanctions on the Kurds, said its border with northern Iraq remained open, although it may not remain so. The number of trucks passing through had however decreased.

Home to the region’s largest Kurdish population, Turkey has been battling a three-decade insurgency in its largely Kurdish southeast and fears the referendum will inflame separatist tension at home.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin, who have stressed the need for Iraq’s borders to remain unchanged, will meet in Ankara on Thursday. </s> KIRKUK (Iraq) (Sputnik) — Residents of the oil-rich Kirkuk province took part in the independence vote on Monday despite the harsh criticism of the federal government.

“The voter turnout in Kirkuk exceeded 70 percent. I expect that 90 percent of the voters supported independence. There are not only Kurds but also Turks, Arabs, and Christians among them,” Karim, who is also one of the leaders of the pro-independence Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) party, said.

Earlier in the day, the Iraqi parliament granted the country’s prime minister the permission to deploy forces to Kirkuk. However, Karim pledged that local security forces would not allow the armed forces into the province.

In August, the council of Kirkuk voted in favor of the province’s participation in Iraqi Kurdistan’s independence plebiscite. This decision incited an uproar in Baghdad, with the Iraqi parliament later voting for the resignation of the governor of Kirkuk, who supported holding the referendum in the disputed province.

A referendum on the independence of Kurdistan was held in the region on Monday, including territories disputed by the region and the federal government, such as Kirkuk. The preliminary results show that more than 90 percent of the voters supported independence. </s> Image copyright AFP Image caption The vote has left Iraq's neighbours nervous

The Iraqi Kurdish parliament has voted to back an independence referendum in the face of opposition from across the globe.

The Kurdistan Regional Government, sitting for the first time in two years, backed the 25 September vote on Friday.

Iraq's central government rejected the referendum as unconstitutional on Tuesday.

Iran, Turkey and the US also object to the vote, fearing further instability.

The White House issued a statement hours after the vote, asking the Kurdistan Regional Government to call off the referendum and "enter into serious and sustained dialogue with Baghdad".

The statement warned the independence vote could "distract from efforts to defeat" the Islamic State militant group (IS).

There was a feeling of jubilation amongst those who back the referendum.

"We've been waiting more than 100 years for this," Omed Khoshnaw, of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDR), told Reuters news agency.

Of the 111 MPs who sit in the regional parliament, 65 voted to go ahead with the plan.

However, more than 40 did not attend the sitting, according to local media. A number of opposition MPs had said they were planning to abstain.

Iraq's government has also authorised the prime minister to "take all measures" to preserve national unity.

Meanwhile, neighbouring Iran and Turkey - which both have Kurdish populations - fear a Yes vote will bolster separatism movements in their countries.

The US had suggested unspecified "alternatives" to the referendum ahead of Friday's meeting.

A move provoking division

Sally Nabil, BBC News, Irbil

The parliamentary decision to hold the referendum on independence has been met with wide celebrations in the Kurdish capital of Irbil. People took to the streets raising the Kurdish flags and chanting patriotic songs.

Some of them told me they feel proud because their long overdue dream of independence is finally coming true. They believe the parliamentary move legitimises the referendum, which is seen by the central government in Baghdad as unconstitutional.

International, as well as regional, powers like Turkey and Iran have also been very critical of the upcoming voting process, warning of serious repercussions. Both countries have relatively large Kurdish communities and they are afraid of the domino effect that such a referendum could have.

Even among Iraqi Kurds there are divisions. The Change Movement, the main opposition party, has boycotted the parliament session, saying it believes in independence but rejects holding the referendum at this stage.

Kurdish leader Massud Barzani said he would give a rapid response to the ideas but appeared to have dismissed them when asked earlier on Friday, before the vote went ahead.

"We still haven't heard a proposal that can be an alternative to the Kurdistan referendum," he said.

Mr Barzani's statement was decried by Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who said the decision not to postpone was "very wrong", Reuters reports.

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Massoud Barzani spoke to the BBC

Kurds are the fourth-largest ethnic group in the Middle East but they have never obtained a permanent nation state. In Iraq, where they make up an estimated 15% to 20% of the population of 37 million, Kurds faced decades of brutal repression before acquiring autonomy following the 1991 Gulf War.

For the past three years, Kurds across the region have been engaged in the battle against IS.

Three months ago, top officials and political parties in the Kurdistan Regional Government agreed to hold an advisory referendum on independence.

Voting will take place in the three provinces that officially make up the region - Dahuk, Irbil and Sulaimaniya - and "areas of Kurdistan outside the region's administration", including Kirkuk, Makhmour, Khanaqin and Sinjar.

Kurdish officials have said that an expected Yes vote will not trigger an automatic declaration of independence but rather strengthen their hand in lengthy negotiations on separation with the central government. </s> Polls open in northern Iraq as Kurds cast ballots in referendum on whether to support independence from Baghdad

People in Iraq’s autonomous region of Kurdistan are voting in an independence referendum, amid rising tensions and international opposition.

Polls opened at 05:00 GMT with balloting also taking place in the disputed areas between the northern city of Erbil and the capital Baghdad, as well as the oil-rich province of Kirkuk, which is ethnically mixed.

The central government in Baghdad, which strongly opposes the referendum, sought control of the region’s international border posts and airports on Sunday, in anticipation of Monday’s vote.

Iraq’s government has also called on foreign countries to stop importing oil from the Kurdish region and to deal with them instead.

In a televised address on Sunday, Iraq’s Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi warned of the dire consequences of the vote and vowed to never accept the disintegration of Iraq.

“This is an unconstitutional decision against the social fabric of our citizens. We will not recognise the referendum, nor its results,” Abadi said.

“We will take follow-up steps to protect the unity of the country and the interests of every citizen living in a unified Iraq.”

Meanwhile, the President of Iraq’s Kurdish regional government, Masoud Barzani, has defended the decision to hold the referendum.

“Is it a crime to ask people in Kurdistan to express in a democratic way what they want to have for the future?” he asked in a speech on Sunday.

The Kurdish leader also said he would seek talks with Iraq’s central government on how to implement the outcome of the vote.

“If we have a constructive dialogue, then we can give it even more time, in order to secure better relations between the Kurds and Baghdad,” he said.

About 2,065 polling stations are open for 10 hours. A total of 5.6 million people are eligible to vote in Kurdistan and other Kurdish-controlled areas in northern Iraq, according to the election commission.

Voters will be asked: “Do you want the Kurdistan region and Kurdish areas outside the region to become an independent state?”

Official results are expected by Tuesday.

Al Jazeera’s Hoda Abdel-Hamid, reporting from the Kurdish capital of Erbil, said despite the “tug of war” between the politicians, there is “an upbeat atmosphere”.

“The Kurds say that this is their time to express their opinion and to take their future into their own hands,” she said.

The Kurds are likely to approve the referendum, but the non-binding vote is not expected to result in any formal declaration of independence.

The referendum has raised alarm in Iraq’s neighbours – Turkey, Iran and Syria – over concerns it could encourage their own Kurdish minorities to break away.

Turkey is home to the largest Kurdish population at an estimated 14 million.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday that Ankara would close the Habur border crossing with northern Iraq over the plebiscite and also threatened the Iraqi Kurds with blocking their key oil exports.

“After this, let’s see through which channels the northern Iraqi regional government will send its oil, or where it will sell it,” Erdogan said in a speech at a forum in Istanbul.

“We have the tap. The moment we close the tap, then it’s done.”

Hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil a day flow through the pipeline in Turkey from the northern Iraq region.

Meanwhile, Iran closed its border with northern Iraq’s Kurdish region on Monday, the Foreign Ministry said.

“At the request of Iraq, we have closed the airspace and ground borders with the Kurdish Regional Government,” ministry spokesman Behram Qasimi said at a news conference in Tehran.

A day earlier, Iran halted flights to airports in Iraqi Kurdistan at the request of the central government in Baghdad, the semi-official Fars news agency reported.

Feisal al-Istrabadi, former Iraqi ambassador to the UN, said the Kurdish government risks throwing the region into turmoil for no clear gain.

“For the Turks and the Iranians, but particulary for Turkey, this [referendum] is an existential threat,” he told Al Jazeera, speaking from Bloomington, Indiana. “How Turkey will deal with an independently Iraqi Kurdistan, but deny their own Kurds independence is a problem requiring Solomonic wisdom.”

The United States and the United Nations have also condemned the referendum.

The UN has warned of the vote’s “potentially destabilising effect,” while the US has said it could fuel regional unrest and distract attention from ongoing campaigns to rout the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) group in Iraq and Syria. </s> Erbil/Sulaimaniya: Kurds voted in large numbers in an independence referendum in northern Iraq on Monday, ignoring pressure from Baghdad, threats from Turkey and Iran, and international warnings that the vote may ignite yet more regional conflict.

The vote organised by Kurdish authorities is expected to deliver a comfortable "yes" for independence, but is not binding. However, it is designed to give Masoud Barzani, who heads the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), a mandate to negotiate the secession of the oil-producing region.

Turnout among 5.2 million eligible voters was 78 percent, the Kurdish Rudaw TV station said, and vote counting had started. Final results are expected within 72 hours.

Voters were asked to say yes or no to the question: "Do you want the Kurdistan Region and Kurdistani areas outside the (Kurdistan) Region to become an independent country?"

For Iraqi Kurds - part of the largest ethnic group left stateless when the Ottoman empire collapsed a century ago - the referendum offered a historic opportunity despite intense international pressure to call it off.

"We have seen worse, we have seen injustice, killings and blockades," said Talat, waiting to vote in the regional capital of Erbil, as a group of smiling women, in colourful Kurdish dress, emerged from the school showing their fingers stained with ink, a sign that they cast their ballot.

At Sheikh Amir village, near the Peshmerga front lines west of Erbil, long lines of Kurdish fighters waited to vote at a former school. Most emerged smiling, holding up ink-marked fingers.

In the ethnically mixed city of Kirkuk, Kurds sang and danced as they flocked to polling stations.

Opposition to the vote simmered among the Arabs and Turkmen who live alongside the Kurds in the northern Iraqi city and there were rumours that the vote would not take place in mixed areas. Officials later ordered an overnight curfew.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi ordered security services "to protect citizens being threatened and coerced" in the Kurdish region, after unconfirmed reports that Arabs in a small town in eastern Iraq were compelled to vote yes. Kurdish officials say no such coercion happened.

The Kurds also say the vote acknowledges their contribution in confronting Islamic State after it overwhelmed the Iraqi army in 2014 and seized control of a third of Iraq.

But with 30 million ethnic Kurds scattered across the region - mainly in Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria - Tehran and Ankara fear the spread of separatism to their own Kurdish populations.

President Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey could cut off the pipeline that carries oil from northern Iraq to the outside world, piling more pressure on the Kurds.

"After this, let`s see through which channels the northern Iraqi regional government will send its oil, or where it will sell it," Erdogan said in Istanbul. "We have the tap. The moment we close the tap, then it`s done."

The Iraqi army started "major manoeuvres" with the Turkish army at the border, the Iraqi defence ministry said, outlining coordinated measures by the two countries against the Kurds in retaliation for the referendum.

Turkey later took the Rudaw TV channel off its satellite service TurkSat, a Turkish broadcasting official told Reuters.

The U.S. State Department warned the Kurds last week that "holding the referendum in disputed areas is particularly provocative and destabilising".

Pentagon spokesman Colonel Robert Manning told reporters on Monday: "We hope that it does not become a distraction and take away the focus on destroying ISIS (Islamic State) and beyond that obviously this (is) an issue for Iraq, you know, they are going to have to sort that out."

The referendum was held not only in the Kurdish autonomous region of Iraq, but also in areas in the north of the country where Kurdish forces have advanced against Islamic State. These areas also have large non-Kurdish populations.

Turkey said it did not recognise the referendum and would view its outcome as null and void, adding that the Iraqi Kurdish government was threatening the peace and stability of Iraq and the whole region.

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said his government was evaluating possible punitive steps regarding its border with northern Iraq and air space in response to the vote.

Erdogan said traffic was only being allowed to cross from the Turkish side of the border into Kurdish areas of Iraq.

Ankara`s forces are again fighting a Kurdish insurgency in Turkey following the collapse of a peace process.

Iran announced a ban on direct flights to and from Kurdistan on Sunday, while Baghdad asked foreign countries to stop direct oil trading with the Kurdish region and demanded that the KRG hand over control of its international airports and border posts with Iran, Turkey and Syria.

Major General Yahya Rahim Safavi, a top military adviser to the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei, said Iran regarded the referendum as "treason" against the Iraqi Kurds.

"Iran has blocked air traffic to this region but we are hopeful that the four neighbouring countries will block the land borders with Iraq too," he was quoted as saying by state news agency IRNA.

Tehran supports Shi`ite Muslim groups who have been ruling or holding security and government positions in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion which toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003.

Syria, embroiled in a devastating civil war and whose Kurds are pressing ahead with their own self-determination, rejected the referendum.

Iraqi Kurdish Prime Minister Nechirvan Barxani said he hoped to maintain good relations with Turkey and the referendum was not a threat to Ankara.

"The referendum does not mean independence will happen tomorrow, nor are we redrawing borders," he said in Erbil. "If the `Yes` vote wins, we will resolve our issues with Baghdad peacefully."

Opposition to the vote emerged among non-Kurdish populations in areas disputed by the KRG and Baghdad, mainly the oil-rich region of Kirkuk.

"Iraq is against the Kurds, so are the Turks, the Iranians, the whole Arab region and Europe. They are going to live in a cage," said Mohammed Mahdi al-Bayati, a Shi`ite Turkmen and a local leader of the Iranian-backed Badr Organisation paramilitary group in Tuz Khurmato, south of Kirkuk.

In Sulaimaniya, a centre for political groups opposed to Barzani, queues at polling stations were shorter than in Erbil. There were fewer billboards celebrating the referendum, reflecting resentment that a yes vote could be seen as a plebiscite for the Kurdish leader.

"I will not vote, the referendum is not good, and it could be dangerous because of the threat from Turkey and Iran," said a shop owner in Sulaimaniya, Ali Ahmed. </s> Voting stations set up for the Iraqi Kurdish referendum have closed their doors and counting of ballots has begun, according to the official supervising body.

Voting closed at 6pm local time (16:00 GMT) on Monday, and the final results were expected to be announced within 72 hours.

Erbil-based Rudaw TV, citing the Independent High Elections and Referendum Commission, said 78 percent of the more than five million eligible voters turned out to vote.

In Kirkuk, authorities declared a curfew an hour and a half before polls closed as jubilant Kurds started to celebrate.

READ MORE: Tensions rise in Iraq ahead of Kurdish referendum

Kurds in the northern Iraqi city flocked to polling stations, but there has been lingering opposition to the vote among the Arabs and Turkmen who live alongside them.

Voters were asked to tick either Yes or No on the ballot asking them just one question in Kurdish, Turkish, Arabic and Assyrian: "Do you want the Kurdistan Region and Kurdistani areas outside the (Kurdistan) Region to become an independent country?"

The referendum is opposed by the Iraqi central government in Baghdad as well as the neighbouring countries of Turkey and Iran, and international powers.

UN chief concerned

Against this backdrop, Antonio Guterres, UN secretary-general, expressed concern on Monday about the potentially destabilising effects of the referendum, calling on Iraq and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to resolve differences through dialogue and compromise.

He also told Iraqi Kurd authorities to ensure that the work of the UN mission in Iraq "will be allowed to continue unhindered".

However, KRG President Masoud Barzani defended the non-binding vote, saying it was only through the referendum that Kurds could secure their future.

He also pledged to start negotiations with Baghdad officials as soon as the result of the vote is known.

The Kurds are likely to approve the referendum, but they are not expected to result in any immediate declaration to separate Iraq.

Bayan Sami Abdul Rahman, KRG representative to the US, says that while the result is non-binding for the Iraqi government, it is "binding" for the Kurdish leadership "to follow the will of the people".

"The Kurdish leadership now has the mandate to negotiate with Baghdad on an amicable separation, on a new relationship between Erbil and Baghdad," she told Al Jazeera from Washington, DC.

The referendum has raised alarm in Iraq's neighbours - Turkey, Iran and Syria - over concerns it could encourage their own Kurdish minorities to break away.

Turkey is home to the largest Kurdish population at an estimated 14 million.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday that his country would do whatever it takes to block efforts against the Turkey's territorial integrity.

The US and the UN have also condemned the referendum.

Iraq and other neighbours of the Kurds "have to understand that we have done this step by step", Bayan Sami Abdul Rahman told Al Jazeera.

"We are taking this very seriously; we want to engage in dialogue. We don't want to destabilise Iraq or Kurdistan ... but certainly, our aim is an independent Iraqi Kurdistan in the near future." </s> ARBIL: Iraqi Kurds voted in an independence referendum on Monday as tensions rose with Baghdad and neighbouring countries over the historic vote.

The referendum was proceeding peacefully but there were fears of potential unrest, especially after lawmakers in Baghdad demanded that troops be sent to disputed areas where the referendum was taking place.

As night fell, a curfew was imposed in parts of the disputed city of Kirkuk, police said. Iran and Turkey, which both worry it will stoke separatist aspirations among their own sizeable Kurdish minorities, were also increasing pressure on Iraq’s Kurds, with Ankara saying it would shut its border and threatening to block key oil exports.

An overwhelming "Yes" outcome is expected, but the vote is non-binding and Kurdish officials have said there are no plans for an immediate declaration of independence. Voters were nonetheless flocking to the polls to pursue a long-cherished dream of statehood, and keen to show off their ink-stained fingers after casting their vote.

Kurdish flags were festooned in all streets, on cars and outside homes across Iraqi Kurdistan. Voters headed to the polls early, many men dressed in traditional Kurdish dress of brown shirt and billowing trousers for the occasion.

"I came very early to be the first to vote for a Kurdish state," Diyar Abubakr, 33, said outside a polling station in regional capital Arbil.

"It’s a day of celebration today. That’s why I’ve put on our traditional outfit, which I bought for the occasion," he said.

One voter even brought a cow to slaughter before the start of the referendum. "I brought this cow as today the state is born and it’s tradition to slaughter a cow for a birth," said Dalgash Abdallah, 27.

Initial results are expected to be announced 24 hours after polls close. Veteran Iraqi Kurd leader Massud Barzani, who initiated the vote, cast his ballot early in the morning, smiling and wearing a traditional outfit.

Polling stations are scattered across the three northern provinces of autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan -- Arbil, Sulaimaniyah and Dohuk -- as well as in disputed border zones such as the oil-rich province of Kirkuk. In Sulaimaniyah, second city of the autonomous region, 40-year-old Diyar Omar came to cast his vote also wearing traditional clothes. </s> ERBIL (Sputnik) — The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), ruling in Iraqi Kurdistan, will determine the candidate for the post of the autonomy's head within a week, head of the party's faction in Iraqi Kurdistan's parliament Omed Khoshnaw told Sputnik.

"Now, after the referendum, we are just hoping that within a week the matter will be set in motion and the issue will be resolved because the main thing was done," Khoshnaw said, adding that it was unknown yet who would be the candidate from the party.

On Monday, the independence vote took place in the autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan as well as in the disputed areas officially controlled by Baghdad. More than 90 percent of voters cast their ballots in favor of gaining independence from Iraq according to local media.

Baghdad also decided to ban flights to and from the airports of the autonomous region starting on Friday.
Voters in Iraqi Kurdistan head to the polls for a referendum on independence from Iraq.