Turkey’s Erdogan, Iraq’s Abadi to discuss planned Kurdistan polls

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said that he will discuss with the Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi a controversial plan in the Arab country’s autonomous Kurdistan region for holding polls on September 25.

“We will have a meeting with Mr Abadi in the United States, and from what we can see our goal is the same. Our goal is not dividing Iraq,” said Erdogan on Sunday before departing for New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly where he would meet the Iraqi leader.

Erdogan, who has on several occasions called on the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to postpone the voting, said Ankara and Baghdad shared the same view regarding the vote.

He said Turkey would announce its official position on it after September 22 when the Turkish government holds national security council and cabinet meetings before the usual schedule. That comes after Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said Kurdistan’s vote was now an issue of national security for Turkey and the country would take any necessary steps.

The regional and international powers have expressed concern that Kurdistan’s planned polls could distract an ongoing fight in Iraq and neighboring Syria, also home to a population of Kurds, against terrorism. Western powers, including the US, have called on the KRG to engage in dialogue with the central Iraqi government to settle old disputes.

SS