Speaking days before the ballot, scheduled for Monday, Barzani said the majority of the global community had underestimated the determination of the Kurds. His burden, and his cause, throughout a lifetime as a revolutionary, then statesman, has been to transform aspirations into sovereignty. Facebook Twitter Pinterest A Kurdish boy sells banners supporting the referendum in Erbil. Photograph: Alaa Al-Marjani/ReutersBut for 71-year-old Barzani, who has led the Kurdistan Democratic Party since 1979, having succeeded his father, it may be now or never. “Is it a crime to ask our people to express themselves over what they want for the future?” asked Barzani.

Source: The Guardian September 22, 2017 09:41 UTC