Turkey mulls response to Kurdish independence vote

ANKARA, Turkey – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says his country will hold a high-level security meeting on Sept. 22 to decide what response to take over a planned Kurdish referendum on independence.

In a television interview Friday, Erdogan accused leaders of Iraq’s autonomous region of “serious political inaptitude” for going ahead with plans to hold the vote on Sept. 25.

Turkey, which has a large Kurdish population and is battling Kurdish insurgents, opposes the Kurds’ moves toward independence and has voiced strong backing to Iraq’s territorial integrity. It is also concerned that the scheduled referendum comprises disputed areas such has Kirkuk, which is home to Turkmen, Arabs, Kurds and Christians.

Turkey warned Iraqi Kurdish leaders this week that there would be “a price to pay” for going ahead with the vote.