Independence referendum

President Masoud Barzani held a meeting on July 7th with the representatives of the political parties across the Kurdistan Region. During the meeting, President Barzani and the attendees discussed several salient issues including the upcoming parliamentary elections, the current political and economic situations and the issue of the independence referendum.

 Turkey is voting in a constitutional referendum that will decide whether to replace the current parliamentary system with an executive presidency.

The vote on April 16 is the seventh referendum in modern Turkish history. The results of previous referendums are as follows: 

The Scottish Parliament has backed Nicola Sturgeon’s call for a second independence referendum in a vote that could lead to Scotland separating from the UK. With 69 votes in favour of her proposal and 59 against, the Scottish First Minister ensured the mandate for a second referendum to take place between 2018 and 2019.

Catalonia's separatist government on Sunday again urged Spain's central government to let it hold a legal referendum on independence like the one Scotland staged in 2014 with London's approval, according to Deutsche Welle.

Bulgarian talkshow host Slavi Trifonov has said it "will depend on circumstances" whether or not he will set up a party after a referendum held along with the presidential elections.

Following the three-question referendum on the voting system, Trifonov has told the media his referendum proves the status quo can be changed.

Catalonia's new separatist leader presented his demand for an independence referendum during his first meeting April 20 with acting Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, who rejected it as an unacceptable option for the region that accounts for nearly a fifth of Spain's economic output.

Catalan separatists hold a mass rally on Sept.11 for independence that will kick off campaigning for a regional election billed as a de facto referendum on breaking away from Spain.

After meeting Dodik in Belgrade, Aleksandar Vucic insisted that the planned referendum in Bosnia was an "internal issue", and a "sovereign decision" of Republika Srpska.

However, "I have asked them to rethink the decision," the Serbian Prime Minister added, noting that he was "grateful" that Dodik had agreed to talk about the referendum.

Catalan government head Artur Mas has voiced his intention to call early elections as a step toward gaining independence from Spain.

Mas told a 3000-strong multitude at a conference in Barcelona he believed this was "the only instrument" allowing Catalans to decide on their future as a nation, Spanish daily El País quotes him as saying.

About 81 percent of Catalonia's voters have supported independence form Spain in a non-binding vote held in Spain's wealthiest region Sunday.

The event was however also marked by a low turnout, with nearly a third (32.8% or about 2.04 million) of those eligible to vote having cast a ballot.