Turkish President Erdoğan to Kurds in Iraq: Cancel independence referendum

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has once again reiterated Ankara's stance on the Kurdistan Regional Government's (KRG) planned independence referendum in northern Iraq, saying "it should not be carried out." 

"Let me say this very clearly: We have always defended Iraq's territorial integrity from the beginning. We did it when no one else was doing so. This referendum shouldn't be carried out. They are living as Arabs, Turkmens and Kurds altogether there," Erdoğan told PBS NewsHour in an interview in New York, drawing attention to the fact that Turkey has a 350-kilometer-long border with Iraq.

"How can we as Turkey accept such a referendum when we have a 350-kilometer-long border with Iraq? Iran doesn't seem to be on the same side as this referendum either, and the same goes for Iraq federal government. So how can you decide on such a thing by yourselves, only as northern Iraq? We don't accept this decision," he said. 

The decision to hold the independence referendum has been criticized by Ankara, Baghdad, the United States and other Western powers. However, KRG leader Masoud Barzani has pushed forward with his plans, vowing to go ahead with the vote planned for Sept. 25. 

Erdoğan had on Sept. 19 warned of "sanctions" against the KRG if it proceeds with the referendum. 

"We have always supported the KRG," he told reporters after his address at the U.N. General Assembly in New York, complaining that Arbil's approach "amounts to ignoring the Republic of Turkey, which has stood by it and counted it as a close ally."

The cabinet and the National Security Council (MGK) will convene on Sept. 22 to make a final decision, Erdoğan said.  

"The cabinet will undoubtedly evaluate this situation and assess possible...

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