erdogan, condumneAnkara, 13 June 2017 (AFP) – The referendum on the independence of Iraqi Kurdistan is an “error” and a “threat” to the territorial integrity of Iraq, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday.
“Moving towards the independence of northern Iraq is a mistake and a threat to the territorial integrity of Iraq,” Erdogan said in a speech broadcast on television.
The presidency of Iraqi Kurdistan last week announced a referendum on independence, despite Baghdad’s opposition. But Turkey, itself a prey on its territory to a conflict with Kurdish separatists, which has claimed more than 40,000 lives since 1984, is firmly opposed to any constitution of a Kurdish state on its border, despite good relations with The Iraqi Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani.
In August, it launched a military operation in northern Syria to drive out the jihadists from the Islamic State (EI) group, but also to prevent the Syrian Kurds from linking the cantons they control in this region. Prey to a civil war.
“We have always defended the integrity of Iraq and we will continue to defend it,” Erdogan said, adding that such a referendum “is in nobody’s interest.”