Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hosted Iran’s military chief of staff General Mohammad Hossein Bagheri along with Turkey’s top general Hulusi Akar in Ankara on Wednesday.
In meetings between the Turkish and Iranian sides, both “stressed that if the referendum is held, it will become the basis for a series of tensions and conflicts inside Iraq, which will have consequences on neighboring countries,” Bagheri told Iran’s IRNA on Thursday.
He added that the two shared the view that the referendum “should not take place.”
Bagheri is on a three day visit to Ankara meeting with political and military leaders. This is the first such visit for Iran’s military chief to the Turkish capital since 1979, he told IRNA.
Iran and Turkey, who each have significant Kurdish populations, have said separately that they oppose the Kurdistan Region’s plans to hold an independence referendum on September 25.
Spokesperson for the Turkish Presidency Ibrahim Kalin called on Erbil to renege on its decision to hold the historic vote, telling reporters on Thursday that Baghdad should take certain steps to please Erbil.
“We call upon them to renege on this decision. They can pass this decision in their parliament and print voting cards. What is important is to think wisely and take the right steps. In this regard, there are some steps which both the Baghdad government and the [Kurdistan Regional Government, KRG] should take. With respect to this, we will be doing whatever we should in consultation with regional countries,” Kalin said.
He also implied that holding the referendum will not resolve the problems of the region, highlighting Turkey’s particular opposition to the inclusion of the disputed city of Kirkuk in the vote.
“The Turkmen will boycott this referendum,” Kalin said, calling Kirkuk a Turkmen city. “This way, its legitimacy will be called into question. Our call is for them to renege on this decision. I hope that the Erbil government withdraws from this mistake as soon as possible.”
Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told state broadcaster TRT on Wednesday that holding the referendum when Iraq already has many problems could “lead the country to civil war.”
The KRG is planning to hold the referendum on September 25 despite concerns from regional neighbors and a request from the US to postpone it.
A referendum delegation is visiting Iraqi and foreign officials in Baghdad this week, including the ambassador from Iran, who has taken a softer tone than that of the Turks and Iranians in Ankara.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran supports any sort of negotiations between the [Kurdistan] Region and the central [government] in Baghdad. Iran will support and takes interest in any agreement they reach through negotiations,” Iran’s ambassador Iraj Masjedi said in a joint press conference with the referendum delegation in Baghdad on Tuesday.
On Thursday a source within the Kurdistan delegation visiting Baghdad told Rudaw that there is “a small chance” the Kurdistan Region would agree to postpone the referendum until after Iraq’s elections if Baghdad gives guarantees that it would approve the referendum at a later date.
The guarantee should come “in writing” and be observed by the United Nations and the United States, the source explained.
