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05Oct17


Turkey to close border gates with Iraqi Kurds soon: Erdogan


Turkey will close border gates with northern Iraq soon as part of the measures against the Iraqi Kurdish independence vote, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday.

In a speech at the Presidential Complex in Ankara, Erdogan said that Turkey, Iraq and Iran are considering a joint blockade on Iraqi Kurdistan region after the independence referendum by the Iraqi Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) on Sept. 25.

"On one side is Iran, on the other side is Turkey, in the south is Iraqi administration, in the west is Syria... What can you do? Where can you go?" the Turkish President said.

"All the airspaces will be closed, flights are already banned. Borders will be closed soon, how will you conduct entrance and exit?" He added.

His remarks came after a one-day visit to Tehran where he discussed with his Iranian counterpart joint measures to be taken against the Iraqi Kurds as sanctions to their ambitions for independence.

Turkey has vowed to take any necessary measures, including political, economic sanctions and military intervention, to retaliate for the Kurdish independence referendum.

Ankara launched joint military exercises with Iraqi troops on their borders, threatening to join Baghdad and Tehran to cut off flow of oil from northern Iraq which is a vital revenue for the region.

[Source: Xinhua, Ankara, 05Oct17]

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