President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Sunday that he will travel to
Iran on October 4 to discuss the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG)
referendum and Astana talks with his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani
and supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Speaking at the Turkish Parliament's legislative year reception, the
Turkish president said the roadmap that Turkey and Iran will follow in
response to the controversial referendum and other regional developments
will take shape after his visit.
Turkey's Chief of General Staff Gen. Hulusi Akar is currently in Iran for official talks.
Monday's illegitimate poll saw Iraqis in KRG-controlled areas, and in
a handful of territories disputed between Irbil and Baghdad, including
ethnically mixed Kirkuk and Mosul, vote on whether or not to declare
independence from Iraq's central government.
Turkey, the U.S., Iran and the U.N. have all joined Baghdad in
speaking out against the poll planned for the Kurdish-controlled areas
of northern Iraq, saying the vote would distract operations against
Daesh and lead to greater instability in the region.
Iranian and Iraqi central government forces are to hold joint
military exercises near their borders, Iran's state television reported
on Saturday, as part of Tehran's efforts to support Baghdad after the
Kurdish independence referendum.
