Turkey holds drill on Iraqi border ahead of Kurdistan referendum
Turkey has held massive military maneuver on border with Iraq ahead of Kurdish independence referendum assumed as a national security threat.
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On Monday, some 100 military vehicles, mostly tanks and vehicles carrying missiles, took part in war games which were launched at Habur border gate, a crossing point into Iraq.
The Turkish military has announced that the drill will continue until September 26, one day after the upcoming Kurdish independence vote.
The region is adamant to hold the referendum on September 25 despite regional and international opposition. Critics say partitioning Iraq could be the last thing the country, scarred by years of violence, needs.
Also on Monday, the UN urged Iraq’s Kurdish leaders to scrap the upcoming secession vote, saying it would undermine the ongoing battle in the Arab country against Daesh terrorists.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi also formally demanded suspension of the upcoming Kurdish independence referendum. Iraqi Kurdish lawmakers on Friday approved holding the secession vote in the face of fierce opposition from the central government in Baghdad, the United Nations and the US.
President of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Massoud Barzani told a rally for secession in the northern city of Dohuk that the Iraqi Kurdistan did "not take legitimacy from anyone.”
Meanwhile, Britain's Defense Secretary Michael Fallon has also said he would try to persuade the KRG president to call off the controversial independence referendum.
Turkish jets kill 8 PKK terrorists
Meanwhile, the Turkish Air Force has killed at least four PKK terrorists after they were marked by a drone in Mount Suki region, on the Iraqi side of the border, said a statement issued by the Hakkari Governor's Office.
Later in the day, another four PKK terrorists were killed in an airstrike at Avasin Basyanarea of northern Iraq, said the Turkish General Staff.
“Those who are chasing dreams in Syria and Iraq should know very well that any attempt that threatens our national security, from inside or outside our borders, will be immediately retaliated in kind,” said Turkish Prime Minister Yildirim in a speech in the southern Turkish town of Sanliurfa after the airstrike were announced.
PKK militants have been waging a bloody campaign in southeastern Turkey for decades, which has left more than 40,000 people dead.
Turkey regularly bombs the mountainous border area between Iraq and Turkey where PKK militants are based. Ankara has also deployed troops into the Iraqi soil, triggering a diplomatic crisis with Baghdad which brought them to the brink of a war at one point.
