Massoud Barzani

The president of Iraq’s Kurdish region warned on Friday that the Kurds might be forced to retaliate if the central government persists with what his spokesman called a “very aggressive” stance toward the pro-independence referendum.

At least 5,000 ultra-nationalist volunteers are ready to join Turkmen groups' struggle to defend Kirkuk and other cities with Turkmen populations in Iraq, Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli said on Sept. 27.

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.

Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) President Massoud Barzani went ahead with the independence referendum despite all the oppositions. 

Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım explained how a complicated and tensed period was waiting for Turkey.
He also emphasized a couple of times that they would have "closer dialogue with Baghdad." 

Polls opened in the Iraqi Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) on Sept. 25 as Iraqi Kurds cast ballots on whether to support independence from Baghdad.

Millions are expected to vote across the three provinces that make up the Kurdish autonomous region, as well as residents in disputed territories - areas claimed by both Baghdad and the Kurds, including the oil-rich city of Kirkuk.

Ankara may be right to be alarmed by the northern Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government's (KRG) call for referendum, as it could herald a radical change along Turkey's southern border. Such a radical step toward the establishment of a new independent state is not only a challenge for Turkey but also for all other regional powers and the international order.

Iraq's Kurds will go ahead with a referendum on independence on Sept. 25, Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) President Massoud Barzani has said.

Iraqi Kurds will seek talks with the Shi'ite-led central government to implement the expected "yes" outcome of the referendum, even if they take two years or more, he said at a news conference.

The Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) region does not only accommodate Kurds, but also Turkmens and Arabs, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan stressed on his way back from New York, when questioned about the planned independence referendum in the region. 

Immediately after his return from the United States, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan held a key security meeting and then chaired the cabinet in order to announce Turkey's counter-measures against the Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government's (KRG) bid to vote for independence on Sept. 25. 

Let's start with what President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has recently said. "Those who were sent to the West to study came back only having taken in Western culture and having left their identities there."

"Those who we hoped would contribute to the welfare of the country came back as the West's voluntary agents," the president also said.