Turkey pledges security and economic steps in response to Iraqi Kurdistan referendum

Turkish Prime Minister Ben Ali Yildirim pledged to take security, diplomatic, political and economic steps in response to a referendum that the Kurdistan region intends to hold next Monday on secession from Iraq.
"These steps will be taken in close cooperation with Iraq, Iran and other neighboring countries," Yildirim said.
The Turkish prime minister made the comments to reporters before a parliamentary session Saturday evening to vote on a mandate to extend the deployment of Turkish troops in Iraq and Syria.
When asked about a transboundary process among the options, Ben Yildirim said, "It's normal that it happens, it's about the timing of the implementation of security, economic and political options." The developments that will happen will determine this.
For years Turkey has been the main outlet for Iraqi Kurdistan to the outside world.
It has built strong trade relations with the autonomous region of Iraq, which exports hundreds of thousands of barrels per day to international markets across Turkey.

The Turkish prime minister said on Friday that Turkey has the second largest army in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
Yildirim said that the referendum in Kurdistan would threaten Turkey's security and force Ankara to impose sanctions on a neighbor and a trading partner, although he did not specify the nature of the actions Ankara might take.
Turkey has repeatedly expressed its opposition to the independence of the Kurdistan region of Iraq, calling on the territorial government to cancel the referendum.
Turkey fears the referendum could fuel the separatist aspirations of the large Kurdish ethnic minority as Turkish troops continue to fight the Kurdish insurgency in the southeast of the country.
Earlier, the chief of staff of the Iraqi army, General Othman al-Ghanmi, arrived in Ankara earlier for talks with the Turks on the referendum and the fight against terrorism, the Anatolia news agency reported.
The Turkish chief of staff is scheduled to visit Tehran on October 4, Turkish daily Hurriyet reported.
In the meantime, the Turkish Chief of Staff announced the upgrading of military exercises in the area of ​​"Silopi - Khabur" near the Iraqi border.
It confirmed in a statement the continuation of the second phase of military exercises in the same area, with the participation of additional military units.
The Turkish armed forces launched large-scale military bases last Monday in the area of ​​"Silopi-Khabur" in the state of Chernak, southeastern Turkey.
Military sources said it would continue until 26 this month, one day after the scheduled referendum on September 25.
Turkey, home to the largest Kurdish ethnic group in the region, has warned against fighting the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) against the division of neighboring countries Syria and Iraq after the referendum.
The Kurds abroad appeared to vote electronically in the referendum on secession through the website of the Electoral Commission and the referendum, and is scheduled to continue voting Kurds abroad until Monday.
It is scheduled to hold the President of the Kurdistan region of Iraq Massoud Barzani, a press conference on Sunday announcing the final position of the referendum.
In a related context, received Iraqi President Fuad Masum, the delegation of the Supreme Council for the referendum in the Kurdistan region negotiator to Baghdad to discuss the referendum and ways to maintain stability in the country.
This came after Barzani on Friday in a speech in Erbil in front of thousands of Kurdish supporters of separation from the insistence of the authorities of the province to hold the referendum on schedule, calling on the Kurds to go to the polls and vote yes.