Iraqi Kurdistan independence referendum

Turkey told Iraq it would deal only with the Iraqi government on crude oil exports, the office of Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said on Sept. 28.

Tough and complex situations should be analyzed through the lens of experience and common sense. The recent article "The path that Turkey should take as the Kurdistan referendum takes place," written by retired ambassadors Osman Korutürk and Selim Karaosmanoğlu for the OdaTV website, is a piece that we should all read carefully nowadays.

Tough and complex situations should be analyzed through the lens of experience and common sense. The recent article "The path that Turkey should take as the Kurdistan referendum takes place," written by retired ambassadors Osman Korutürk and Selim Karaosmanoğlu for the OdaTV website, is a piece that we should all read carefully nowadays.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi is demanding that this week's referendum on independence for the autonomous Kurdish region be annulled.

"The referendum must be annulled and dialogue initiated in the framework of the constitution. We will never hold talks on the results of the referendum," Abadi told Iraqi lawmakers on September 27.

Iraqi Kurds have voted in favor of the creation of an independent state amid high tensions with the Iraqi government over the issue.
The High Elections and Referendum Commission said on Wednesday that more than 92.73 percent of voters supported the idea of Iraqi Kurdistan's independence from Baghdad.

Turkey's president has said Iraqi Kurds could go hungry as a result of the punitive measures he is considering after Monday's independence referendum, BBC reported.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has warned that all military and economic measures are on the table against the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), arguing that Masoud Barzani's decision to go ahead with the vote was "betrayal to Turkey."

Arbil has never been a threat to Ankara, and will remain to not be so, according to Nechirvan Barzani, prime mnister of the Kurdistan Regional Gvoernment (KRG) in northern Iraq.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Russian President Vladimir Putin held a phone conversation on the situation in Syria and Iraq on Sept. 25, private broadcaster CNN Türk has reported.   

During the conversation, the two leaders stressed the "importance of the territorial integrity of Iraq and Syria," the broadcaster reported.

Turkey is determined to take action if its national security is threatened, officials vowed on Sept. 25, as the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) pressed ahead with an independence referendum despite pressure and warnings from Baghdad, Turkey, Iran and the international community.