ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Top leaders from the Kurdistan Region on Friday commemorated the ninth anniversary of the Region’s independence referendum in 2017, describing the milestone as “the triumph of the people’s will.”

Millions of Kurds went to the polls to cast their votes in a historic referendum on the Kurdistan Region’s independence nine years ago, on September 25, 2017.

The results showed a striking 92.7 percent in favor of independence, forever etching into the conscience of the international community the Kurdish people’s desire for an independent state, which stands on a history of blood, struggle, and sacrifice.

President Masoud Barzani, the architect of the historic vote, commemorated the milestone in a short statement which read: “A vote for history, a memory for generations.”

Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani also marked the historic occasion with a post on X, stating: “May the anniversary of the triumph of the people's will be blessed and enduring.”

The Kurdish people's peaceful expression of self-determination was countered mere weeks later by an Iraqi military campaign on October 16, 2017, in Kirkuk and other disputed areas, leading to a withdrawal of the Peshmerga forces, casualties in its ranks, as well as the displacement of thousands of families from their homes.

Despite failing to bring about the long-sought-after Kurdish state, the vote is commemorated every year as a milestone achievement, as it has forever cemented the Kurdish people’s deep-rooted desire for self-determination, and their resilience in the face of centuries of oppression.