ANKARA (Dispatches) – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says his country may impose sanctions on Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region if it goes ahead with a planned independence referendum.
Speaking to reporters outside his hotel in New York, where he is attending the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) meeting, Erdogan said his cabinet was due to discuss possible sanctions on the Iraqi Kurdistan when it convenes on Friday, state news agency Anadolu reported.
"As the national security council, we will advise the government on our decision. With it, the cabinet will meet and discuss this. It will both evaluate this and put forth their own stance on what kind of sanctions we can impose, or if we will, but these will not be ordinary,” the Turkish president said.
"We will announce our final thoughts on the issue with the cabinet meeting and national security council decision,” Erdogan said. "I think it would be better if they saw this.”
Addressing world leaders at the UNGA on Tuesday, Erdogan cautioned that the upcoming referendum in northern Iraq could lead to new conflicts in the Middle East, without elaborating.
Meanwhile, Turkish Defense Minister Nurettin Canikli has reiterated Ankara’s opposition to a planned Kurdish independence referendum in northern Iraq, warning that disintegration of Iraq will lead to a global conflict.
During a Tuesday speech in Ankara, Canikli described the planned referendum as a major risk for his country and underlined Turkey’s determination to take "every step" to thwart any similar measure in its southeast Kurdish areas.
"A change that will mean the violation of Iraq's territorial integrity poses a major risk for Turkey," Canikli said.
"The disruption of Syria and Iraq's territorial integrity will ignite a bigger, global conflict with an unseen end," he added.
The Iraqi Kurds plan to hold the plebiscite on September 25 in three provinces that make up their region, as well as in disputed areas that are controlled by Kurdish forces but claimed by Baghdad, including the oil-rich Kirkuk Province.
Canikli’s remarks come a day after Turkey launched a military exercise without warning across its southern border with Iraq which is scheduled to last until September 26, a day after the planned referendum.
On Tuesday, Turkish troops turned their weapons towards Kurdish-run northern Iraq, with tanks and rocket launchers mounted on armored vehicles facing the Iraqi frontier, Reuters reported.
Turkey, which has the largest Kurdish population, has robust economic ties to Iraq’s Kurdish Regional Government (KRG). The standoff has weakened the Turkish lira beyond 3.5 to the dollar for the first time in four weeks.