Turkey's first diplomatic retaliation to the referendum on the independence of Iraqi Kurdistan, approved yesterday with a plebiscite. Ankara has told the representative of Kurdistan Democratic Party (Pdk) of President Massud Barzani, Omer Merani, to "not return" from Erbil, where he is currently.
Ankara Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has informed him, pointing out that "from now on" the only diplomatic interlocutor for his country will be the central government of Baghdad. "The ongoing military exercises (on the border with northern Iraq, ndr) mean that we support the territorial integrity of Iraq" and that "we will support its maintenance if Iraq will make such a request," added Cavusoglu , explaining that further possible sanctions against Erbil are at the Ankara government study.