Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan late Tuesday warned of sanctions against the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) if it proceeds with its planned referendum for independence next week.
"We have always supported" the KRG, Erdogan told reporters in New York after his address at the UN General Assembly. "We think this approach of theirs amounts to ignoring the Republic of Turkey, which has stood by them and counted them as a close ally."
The cabinet and the National Security Council will convene to make a final decision, he said.
"As the national security council, we will advise the government on our decision. With it, the cabinet will meet and discuss this. It will both evaluate this and put forth their own stance on what kind of sanctions we can impose, or if we will, but these will not be ordinary," he added.
The Iraqi Kurds plan to hold a referendum on September 25 in three provinces that make up their region, as well as in disputed areas that are controlled by Kurdish forces but are claimed by Baghdad, including the oil-rich Kirkuk Province.
Baghdad has censured the upcoming vote as unconstitutional, urging the Kurdish leadership to drop the plan.
On Monday, Iraq’s top court temporarily suspended the Kurdish independence referendum, saying it "issued a national order to suspend the referendum procedures... until the resolution of the cases regarding the constitutionality of said decision."
Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi also formally asked the Kurdish officials to halt the process.
