Turkish President comments on 'referendum' in northern Iraq

Baku. 26 September. REPORT.AZ/ "Iraqi Kurds would be left in the lurch when Turkey imposes sanctions".

Report informs citing the Turkish media, President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said at the opening ceremony of the Higher Education Academic Year 2017/2018, commenting on the "referendum" initiated by the local government in northern Iraq.

According to him, local government in northern Iraq insisted on holding an independence referendum: "No country or international organization other than Israel supporting it. This means that the new conflict zone will be created in the region. But the world does not consist of Israel alone. About 114 countries have accepted Kosovo, yet unfortunately it is still not a state. What will you do with Israel alone? It doesn’t work like that. Iraqi Kurds would be left in the lurch when Turkey imposes sanctions. As soon as we close the oil taps, everything will be over. Oil revenues will dry up when the taps are turned off. What will Israel send to them and from where?

The president expressed that he did not expect KRG leader Masoud Barzani to make the mistake of holding the referendum, and described the decision to hold it as “treachery.” This issue is not a matter of "Kurds' right" as Barzani claims. Continue to exist as a province. What was needed to do so? Turkmens and Arabs did not vote. The referendum is held by local government in northern Iraq and terrorist PKK is celebrating this. Number of participants is also questionable. Do not forget that those who set you against today will leave you tomorrow".

"We have a lot of historical information on these issues. They will be discussed and brought to the agenda. We hope the Iraqi Kurdish government comes to its senses and abandons this adventure with a dark end. Turkey will not hesitate to use means at its disposal if the road to peace is blocked. We are considering all options from economic sanctions to military options, including land and air space alternatives”, Turkish President noted.