PM: Turkey urges Erbil to cancel referendum on independence

By  Trend

Turkey calls on Erbil to cancel the referendum on independence, the Turkish media quoted country’s Prime Minister Binali Yildirim as saying, on August 25.

Yildirim noted that, the decision to hold a referendum on independence of the Kurdish autonomy of Iraq is erroneous and dangerous.

Ankara stands for the integrity of Iraq, said the prime minister.

Previously, Leader of Turkey’s opposition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Devlet Bahceli, said that in case of necessity, Turkey must perceive the realization of the independence referendum in Iraq’s Kurdish Autonomous Region as a pretext for war.

He noted that, the realization of the independence referendum in Iraq’s Kurdish Autonomous Region seriously damages the interests of Turkey.

Iraq’s Kurdish Autonomous Region plans to hold an independence referendum on September 25. Earlier, Masoud Barzani, head of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in northern Iraq, had warned that opposition to the referendum would be met with “a bloody war”.

Ankara has repeatedly voiced its concerns over the planned independence referendum and contended that the referendum's aftermath would cause further turmoil in the region.