8 hours agoKurds are threatened militarily by Turkey and Iraq (Video)
Periskopi(9 years ago)
(9 years ago)Iraq's military and Turkish forces carried out joint military maneuvers following the Kurdish referendum that took place Monday. Iraq's military has joined Turkish forces to conduct joint military exercises on the two states' common border, said military officials, “Al Jazeera” broadcast Periscopi. Iraqi soldiers arrived in Turkey late [...]
Iraq's military has joined Turkish forces to conduct joint military exercises on the two states' common border, said military officials, “Al Jazeera” broadcast Periscopi.
Iraqi soldiers arrived in Turkey late Monday ahead of exercises that should take place Tuesday in Habur, near Turkey's southeastern border with Iraq, a Turkish military statement said.
Joint exercises come after Iraqi Kurds held on Monday a referendum on independence in the semi-aunomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq, contradicting the Turkish and Iraqi government.
The independence vote, organised by the Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), is expected to return most of the votes “po” when the results are announced, which are expected to be within 72 hours.
Masoud Barzani, the chairman of KRX, said he would seek talks with Baghdad on the way to implement the referendum result.
“If we have a constructive dialogue, then we can give it even more time to ensure better relations between Kurds and Baghdad”, he said on September 24th.
Iraq, however, opposes the referendum with the argument that it is contrary to the country's constitution.
Haider al-Abadi, Iraqi prime minister, told reporters Monday that the government will not hold talks with KRGCHA after the referendum.
“We are not ready to discuss or have a dialogue on the referendum outcome because it is unconstitutional”, he said.
Turkey, which is home to about 14 million Kurds, has also rejected the vote.
Anakara is concerned that the referendum could encourage Turkey's Kurdish population to seek autonomy.
Recep Tayip Erdogan, Turkey's president, said in a speech Monday that Ankara would close the Habur border crossing with northern Iraq after plebiscite and threatened to block Kurdish authorities from exporting oil to Turkey.
After that, let's see through which channel the Iraqi regional government will send its oil, or where it will sell it”, he said.
Hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil a day stem from pipelines on controlled territory on Iraqi Kurds in Turkey./Periscopi/
