The referendum was announced and delayed on several occasions[9][10] as Kurdish forces co-operated with the Iraqi central government for the liberation of Mosul,[11] but by April 2017, it was being seen as happening some time in 2017.

[13] The referendum led to a military conflict with the Iraqi central government, in which the KRG lost 20 percent of its territory and its main source of revenue,[14] the Kirkuk oil fields.

In these disputed areas, Kurdish forces under the regional government spearheaded a "concerted campaign" to displace Arab communities in northern Iraq, actions that could amount to war crimes, according to a report by Amnesty International.

[15][21] On 1 July, Kurdish president Masoud Barzani announced his intention to call a referendum on independence sometime in 2014 on the grounds that the country had been "effectively partitioned" already.

[7] In September 2014, after Maliki was replaced as prime minister by Haider al-Abadi, Kurdish leaders agreed to postpone the referendum while they focused on the fight against ISIL.

[9] On 3 February 2016, Rudaw.net reported that Kurdistan President Masoud Barzani told KRG legislators that the referendum would be held sometime before the 2016 American presidential election in early November.

[22] However, in late October, Prime Minister of Kurdistan Region Nechirvan Barzani confirmed that the referendum would not be held until after Mosul had been liberated.

[23] News reports from December 2016 said Kurdistan's Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani had suggested the region could push for independence from Baghdad once the ongoing battle to liberate Mosul from ISIL was complete.

[24] In early April 2017, as the liberation of Mosul was progressing, the ruling political parties of Kurdistan Region, the KDP and PUK, announced their goal of holding an independence referendum in 2017.

Senior Kurdish official Hoshyar Zebari said a "Yes" vote in the referendum would not mean an automatic declaration of independence of Kurdistan, but will "strengthen the Kurds' hand" in talks on self-determination with the central government.

[36] After a rare high-level meeting between the Iranian military chief of staff Major General Mohammad Bagheri and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Ankara on 16 August, a joint statement "voiced strong opposition" to the referendum.

Barzani created a new "political leadership" body to prepare for independence; however, three Kurdish parties, including the PUK, have refused to join it.

[130] On 25 October 2017, in the light of avoiding the escalation of conflict with the Iraqi central government, Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan Region offered to "freeze" the result of September's referendum on independence and begin dialogue with Baghdad.

[131] On 29 October 2017, Masoud Barzani announced his intentions to step down as President of Kurdistan Region, effective 1 November, after being in power for 12 years.

His gamble of pushing through with the unofficial referendum ended with the disputed territories being recaptured by Iraq and with the Kurdish statebuilding project being left abandoned.

[134] The KRG announced it would respect the Supreme Federal Court's ruling, stating that "this decision must become a basis for starting an inclusive national dialogue between (Kurdish authorities in) Erbil and Baghdad to resolve all disputes".