Erdogan threatens food sanctions, calls Kurdistan referendum 'treason'

"Let it be known, flying Israeli flags there will not rescue you."

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) - As the people of Kurdistan Region headed to the ballot boxes to vote on whether or not to secede from Iraq a day earlier, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday described the move as an act of "clear treason" to his country and threatened food sanctions.

"You will be left alone when we start imposing our sanctions. Once we shut down the [oil pipeline] valve, [you] will be done," Erdogan said apparently addressing Kurdistan's President Masoud Barzani, implying his country could stop the Kurdish oil flow to the Ceyhan port in southern Turkey.

"All of his income will disappear. The moment lorries stop running, they will have no food or clothes. They will find themselves in that [bad] a situation," he told an audience during a speech at his Ankara palace.

The Kurdistan Region heavily relies on commercial lines worth of tens of billions of US dollars with its two neighbors of Iran and Turkey.

"Then let Israel send them [aid]. What, how and through where? Let's see if it can send some," he added referring to the visible sympathies between the Kurds and Israelis that have raised Turkish, Arab and Iranian ire, at times with strong anti-Semitic tones in their respective media.

Erdogan has previously criticized the Saudi Arabia-led Gulf countries' food and commerce sanctions on the State of Qatar, a Turkish ally, as something "Muslims cannot do to each other."

Women show their ink-stained fingers after voting in Kurdistan Region's independence referendum in Kirkuk, Sept 25, 2017. (Photo: Reuters)
Women show their ink-stained fingers after voting in Kurdistan Region's independence referendum in Kirkuk, Sept 25, 2017. (Photo: Reuters)

"Let it be known, flying Israeli flags there will not rescue you," he said, harkening to the visibility of Israeli flags flying along those of Kurdistan during rallies in Erbil and elsewhere in appreciation of Tel Aviv's pro-Kurdish stance.

The Turkish President reiterated his earlier declaration that all options were on the table against the Kurdistan Region, including military action. 

Prime Minister Binali Yildirim on Monday, as the first votes began to fill in the ballot boxes, ruled out any prospects of war, although a massive army drill, recently joined by Iraqi troops on the Kurdish border, went ahead.

He labeled the referendum as illegitimate and its results "shady" while claiming the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), outlawed by Ankara and its Western allies for its fight against Turkish troops over Kurdish rights, was celebrating the vote.

The Kurdish leadership in Erbil, unfazed by threats, has stated they want to maintain friendly relations with regional countries, including Turkey.

 

Editing by G.H. Renaud