{"id":46515,"date":"2017-09-23T17:32:23","date_gmt":"2017-09-23T17:32:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/uncategorized\/2017\/09\/23\/turkey-warns-kurdish-leaders-on-vote-as-parliament-convenes\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T02:26:40","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T02:26:40","slug":"turkey-warns-kurdish-leaders-on-vote-as-parliament-convenes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/flashpoints\/2017\/09\/23\/turkey-warns-kurdish-leaders-on-vote-as-parliament-convenes\/","title":{"rendered":"Turkey warns Kurdish leaders on vote as parliament convenes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

ISTANBUL \u2014 The Turkish parliament convened Saturday for an extraordinary session to renew a mandate to allow the military to intervene in Iraq and Syria, as officials continued to press Iraqi Kurdish leaders to call off an upcoming independence referendum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The decree, renewed annually since 2014 and set to expire next month, allows Turkey to send troops over its southern border if developments in Iraq and Syria are perceived as national security threats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The mandate, read in parliament Saturday, lists combating Kurdish militants operating in Syria and Iraq as well as the Islamic State group as national security requirements. It also emphasizes the importance of Iraq\u2019s territorial integrity and says \u201cseparatism based on ethnicity\u201d poses a threat to both Turkey and regional stability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Turkish officials have repeatedly warned the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government in Iraq to abandon plans for independence. Iraqi Kurds have scheduled such a vote for Monday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking in parliament, Turkish Defense Minister Nurettin Canikli likened Monday\u2019s referendum to a brick that \u2014 if pulled out \u2014 could collapse a \u201cstructure built on sensitive and fragile balances.\u201d The resulting conflict could be global, he warned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earlier Saturday, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim called the referendum \u201ca mistake, an adventure.\u201d He said Turkey would take diplomatic, political and economic measures according to \u201cdevelopments on the ground.\u201d He added a cross-border military operation was also an option.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The mandate being voted on is a combination of two previous bills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Iraq Bill was passed in 2007 to combat outlawed Kurdish militants in northern Iraq to prevent attacks in Turkey. The Kurdistan Workers\u2019 Party or PKK has waged a three-decade-long insurgency against the Turkish state and has its headquarters in Iraq\u2019s Qandil mountains. Turkey, the United States and the European Union consider it a terror organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Syria Bill of 2012 was in response to mortar attacks by Syrian government forces on a Turkish border town.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The combined bill was passed in 2014 as ISIS waged a deadly campaign in Kobani, the Syrian Kurdish town on the Turkish border. ISIS failed to take over the town and the victory strengthened Syrian Kurdish People\u2019s Protection Units or YPG, who are now a key U.S. ally against ISIS in Syria.<\/p>\n\n\n\t