ANKARA (Dispatches) – Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says his country will "soon” shut its border and airspace to the Iraqi Kurdistan Region in response to a controversial referendum on possible secession of the semi-autonomous region from the rest of the country.
"Flights to northern Iraq have already been suspended, the airspace and borders will also close soon," Erdogan said in a televised speech in the Turkish capital, Ankara.
"How will you (the Iraqi Kurds) have imports and exports then? The clock is ticking against them," he added.
The non-binding Kurdish plebiscite took place on September 25, sparking strong objection from the central government in Baghdad. Iraq’s neighbors and the international community also voiced concerns over the repercussions of the vote, which was only supported by the Zionist regime.
The Turkish president said the plebiscite showed the "perfect ingratitude" of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) after years of its close commercial and political relations with Ankara.
French President Emmanuel Macron says Paris is ready for mediation between Iraq and its Kurdish region seeking secession from the mainland, emphasizing the need to protect the Arab country’s "territorial integrity.”
In a joint presser with visiting Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, Macron said dialog was the only solution to the dispute between Baghdad and Iraq’s Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), which recently held a controversial secession plebiscite in defiance of international warnings.
"France is ready to contribute actively to mediation,” said the French leader, highlighting the importance of "national reconciliation and inclusive governance” that includes Kurds, "with whom France maintains close ties.”
Much of the international community has been vocally critical of the September 25 Kurdish referendum, in which over 90 percent of the voters in the semi-autonomous region said ‘Yes’ to separation from Iraq, according to local officials.