The Iraq Supreme Court on Monday suspended a referendum to seek a vote for a separate state of Kurdistan, Al Jazeera reported. The top court said it will first examine the “complaints it has received over this plebiscite being unconstitutional”. The referendum was scheduled to be held on September 25.

“We have received several complaints and this is why we decided to suspend the referendum,” court spokesperson Ayas al-Samouk told AFP. There has been no reaction after the court order so far, according to Al Jazeera.

The Kurdistan Regional Government, which rules the semi-autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq, had called for the referendum. It, however, had said that a vote to separate would not spark secession immediately.

The vote was due in the three provinces that make up the Kurd region, as well as disputed territories claimed by both Iraq and the Kurds. The Kurds make up the fourth-largest ethnic group in West Asia, and have long wanted to have a separate state of their own.

Turkey, Iran, the United States and the United Nations have pleaded that the Kurds settle their differences with Iraq through negotiations rather than secession. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi had also earlier demanded that the referendum be put on hold.