Iraq's Supreme Court has ruled that the constitution does not allow any region to secede. The declaration comes a month after the northern Kurdish region overwhelmingly voted for independence in a disputed referendum.
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Iraq's top court said on Monday there were no articles in the country's constitution that allowed a region or province to break away.
The ruling was a response to a request from the central government in Baghdad to put an end to any "wrong misinterpretation" of the constitution and assert the unity of Iraq, a court spokesman said.
Kirkuk: Who's fighting in Iraq's Kurdish-controlled province?
From Shiite militias to Turkey's outlawed PKK, armed groups are fighting for power in Iraqi Kurdistan's oil-rich province of Kirkuk. DW examines who's who in the dispute as tensions rise in the Middle East nation.
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Battle for Kirkuk
Only a few shots were fired, but Iraq's decision to send in armed forces into the Kurdish-controlled province of Kirkuk and bring it back into the fold has heightened tensions in the Middle East nation. Who's on who's side? And where is the territorial dispute going? DW takes a look at the actors and their motives.
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Iraq's army
In 2014, Kurdish forces went into Kirkuk to fill in the void left behind after Iraq's army collapsed from the "Islamic State's" military campaign. But three years later, the Iraqi military has been rebuilt and ridden a wave of victories against the notorious militant group. They're the main instrument of hard power for the Iraqi government as Baghdad fights for control of the oil-rich province.
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Shiite-dominated Popular Mobilization Units
Even during the liberation of Mosul, the Iraqi army was backed by the Popular Mobilization Units – an alliance of mostly Shiite militias. The Popular Mobilization Units joined the Iraqi army when it advanced on Kurdish-controlled positions in and around the city of Kirkuk. Kurdish politicians have lashed at the units, saying they're serving Iran's goal to destabilize the region.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/A. Al-Rubaye
Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK)
The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) is one of the main opposition political parties in Iraqi Kurdistan. Since the first Gulf War, the PUK has jointly administered Iraqi Kurdistan with the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP). Both the PUK and KDP have their own peshmerga forces. In Kirkuk, PUK peshmerga fled the city, leaving it virtually unopposed to Iraqi forces.
Image: picture-alliance/AA/H. Baban
Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP)
The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) led by Iraqi Kurdistan President Masoud Barzani is the ruling political party in Iraqi Kurdistan's parliament. Despite warnings from the central government, it was the KDP's Barzani who vowed to move forward on the independence referendum, infuriating Baghdad. KDP peshmerga fighters – like the PUK fighters – fled Kirkuk when Iraqi forces advanced on the city.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/B. Janssen
The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)
The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) was born in the 1970s out of an ambitious dream to create a Marxist-Leninist state in the Middle East to be called Kurdistan. In the 1980s, the group launched a bloody insurgency against the state of Turkey. While considered unwelcome in Iraq, the PKK has links with Iraq's Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) – and likely appeared in Kirkuk to back them.
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Major blow for Kurdistan
Iraq's Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on Friday called on the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region to abide by the court's ruling.
"We call on the region to clearly state its commitment to non-separation or independence from Iraq," he said in a statement. There was no immediate reaction from Kurdish authorities.
