Nearly 30 million Kurds live in Turkey, Syria, Iran and Iraq, where since the 1990s they have had autonomy — occupying the northern part of that country.

This week, residents went to the polls to vote on a referendum for independence from Iraq. It’s a path heavily criticized by the United States, the European Union and the Arab League out of fear it could destabilize a region not exactly known for stability.

CGTN’s Tony Chen reports from Erbil.

To discuss Kurdistan’s independence referendum:

• Aykan Erdemir, a former member of the Turkish Parliament.
• Namo Abdulla, the Washington Bureau Chief for Rudaw, the media network from the Kurdistan Region in Iraq.
• Goran Zaneti, a writer and political analyst.
• Ismael Alsodani, the former Iraq Defense Attache to the U.S. and strategic analyst for the Middle East

For more:

92% of voters in Iraqi Kurdistan backed independence. Iraq's prime minister wants to annul the referendum result. 📻https://t.co/w2sHVLMGzH pic.twitter.com/kf7HXcKC1b

— BBC World Service (@bbcworldservice) September 29, 2017

#Turkey’s threat of sanctions against #Iraqi #Kurds rattles its own traders https://t.co/t0sANdS1kW via @AlMonitor #KurdistanReferendum

— Amberin Zaman (@amberinzaman) September 29, 2017