Ankara will intervene militarily if Turkmens are targeted in Iraq: Turkish FM

ISTANBUL

Turkey would intervene militarily if the Turkmen population in Iraq is targeted, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu warned in a televised interview on Sept. 25, amid a series of warnings from Ankara over the independence referendum in northern Iraq.

Voting on independence began in the Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) on Sept. 25 despite strong opposition from Iraq's central government, Turkey and Iran - both with significant Kurdish populations - as well as Western warnings that the move could aggravate Middle East instability.