Turkey, US urge Barzani to cancel planned independence referendum

Turkey and the United States have once again called on Masoud Barzani, leader of the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) in northern Iraq, to cancel a planned independence referendum scheduled to be held on Sept. 25. 

"Mr. Barzani knows very well what we think about this issue," President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan told private broadcaster A Haber late on Sept. 15, as he added that Turkey would announce its official position on the referendum after its National Security Council (MGK) and cabinet will be convened on Sept. 22.

"We were going to hold our MGK meeting on Sept. 27 and now we rescheduled the meeting that we will also discuss this referendum issue to Sept. 22. We will hold it at 3 p.m. Cabinet will be convened after the MGK meeting. The final decision will be given after these meetings. There are no different proposals. Our stance is clear, but the heightened sensitivity of ours on this issue will be clear after the MGK and cabinet meetings on Sept. 22," he also said.

Earlier on the same day, Barzani said the vote would not be delayed, despite pressing requests from Turkey, the U.S. and other Western powers worried that the tensions between Baghdad and Erbil would distract from the war on Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants.   

"We still haven't heard a proposal that can be an alternative to the Kurdistan referendum," Barzani told a rally in the Kurdish region, referring to a proposal put forward by the United States and other Western envoys this week.

President Erdoğan commented on Barzani's statements, saying that "they were really wrong."
"He has been aware of our sensitivity regarding Iraq's territorial integrity for years. I don't find it appropriate at all that he engages in some operations,"...