Erdogan threatens Kurdistan: “It would pay the price”

CAIRO – 1 October 2017: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened Saturday Kurdistan Regional Government saying, “It would pay the price,” in retaliation for the independence referendum Kurdistan recently organized, the Independent reported.

“We announced to the neighboring countries that we are prepared to confront negative developments following the referendum, and that we will not allow them to occur in many regions in the map Kurdistan decided to draw itself,” Erdogan said according to Anadolu Agency (AA), CNN reported.

According to international law, Kirkuk and other regions represent a territorial dispute. Many regions affected by the referendum, have a majority of Arabs, Turkmens, and other groups, Erdogan said. “Kurdistan has neglected our warnings, despite all the support we provided,” he added.

Turkish Prime Minister Bin Yildirim said Saturday, that Ankara will no more deal with the Kurdish government and will limit its relations to Baghdad’s government, the Independent reported.

Erdogan threatened earlier to impose sanctions on Kurdistan for organizing the independence referendum. Turkey, which has the largest population of Kurds, warned before that the division of Iraq or Syria may lead to international strife, CNN reported.

Threatening a military intervention in Iraq, Erdogan said earlier, "Our military is not [at the border] for nothing," Erdogan said. "We could arrive suddenly one night," Fox News reported.