Turkey, Iraq, Iran to work together against KRG: PM Yıldırım

ÇORUM/ANKARA

Turkey, Iraq and Iran will hold a trilateral summit to coordinate steps to be taken against the Iraqi Kurdish independence referendum, Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım said on Sept. 28.Turkey, Iraq and Iran will hold a trilateral summit to coordinate steps to be taken against the Iraqi Kurdish independence referendum, Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım said on Sept. 28.



His words came after a phone conversation he had with the Iranian deputy president on Sept. 28. He said the conversation focused on the developments in Iraq.



“Iran is on the same page with us,” he told reporters, stressing that the Iraqi Kurds’ ambitions for independence could pose a risk to the stability and security of the region.



“We will continue close cooperation with Iraq and Iran on this issue,” he said, adding that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will pay a visit to Iran on Oct. 4.



Turkey will speak directly to Iraq’s central government on issues about borders, airports and economic relations, he said, noting that the three countries were doing their best to overcome the crisis caused by the referendum with the minimum damage.



Yıldırım also said Turkey would not hesitate to respond to any threats against its national security.



He stressed Turkey would not shy away from giving the harshest response to a national security threat posed on its border but it was not the first choice.



Also speaking about the independence referendum, Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdağ said Yıldırım will meet his Iraqi counterpart Haider al-Abadi face to face in the near future.



“We have decided to conduct all our relations with Iraq through the Iraqi central government from now on, including those that concern the people living in the northern Iraqi regional government,” Bozdağ said in a televised interview on Sept. 28.



On Sept. 25, northern Iraq’s population voted overwhelmingly in favor of independence in a referendum held by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).