Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani have discussed the latest developments surrounding a planned referendum on the independence of the semi-autonomous Kurdish region in Iraq.
In a telephone conversation on Sunday, the Iranian and Turkish presidents expressed concern about the regional chaos that the independence vote would cause.
“The two leaders noted that not cancelling the referendum will bring with it chaos to the region and they also stressed the great importance which they attach to Iraq's territorial integrity,” Turkish President's office said in a statement.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said earlier that Baghdad would not allow the creation of an “ethnic government” in the Arab country, PressTV reported.
Iran, Iraq and Turkey on Thursday voiced concerns over the planned independence referendum in the northern Iraqi Kurdistan region, warning that the unconstitutional vote could fan the flames of tensions in the Middle East.
