Tripartite Talks on Countering Kurdish Referendum

Turkey, Iran and Iraq have agreed to consider countermeasures against the Iraq’s Kurdish Regional Government over a planned independence referendum, Turkey’s Foreign Ministry said on Thursday.

In a joint statement, the foreign ministers of the three countries voiced concerns that the referendum would endanger the gains made by Iraq against the self-styled Islamic State terrorist group, and reiterated their fears over the potential for new conflicts in the region, Reuters reported.

“In the meeting, the three ministers emphasized that the referendum will not be beneficial for the Kurds and the Kurdish Regional Government, and agreed, in this regard, to consider taking countermeasures in coordination,” the statement said.

It said Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and their Iraqi counterpart, Ibrahim al-Jaafari, who were in New York attending the United Nations General Assembly, expressed concerns that conflicts surfacing as a result of the referendum would “prove difficult to contain”.

The three ministers also voiced their “strong commitment” to maintain Iraq’s territorial and political unity.