Turkey won't allow PKK, Daesh, YPG in the region, Erdoğan says

Turkey's president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan harshly criticized the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) on Wednesday for trying to claim the Iraqi province of Kirkuk.

Erdoğan said the KRG leadership was responsible for the region's isolation.
On the recent illegitimate independence referendum in the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG), Erdoğan reacted angrily and said: "How dare you say 'Kirkuk is ours'? Do you have a history there?"

The illegitimate referendum was carried out in the three provinces allocated to KRG control under the Iraqi constitution as well as disputed areas such as Kirkuk that KRG forces seized in 2014 as Daesh sent Iraqi government troops into retreat.

The referendum was condemned by all regional powers, but Israel, as well as the UN and U.S.

Most warned it would distract from the fight against terrorism and further destabilize the region.

Turkish president said no more flights would be made to and from the KRG's Erbil and reiterated that Turkey would deal with the legitimate Baghdad government over border crossings, airports and oil trade.
"For years we have been working well with the KRG leadership. They were financially strapped, [and] told us, 'We cannot pay civil servants' wages.' They wanted a loan from us, and we provided a substantial loan. Why is Turkey closing the border gate today? The KRG should answer this [question]. We did not create this problem, they did," Erdoğan said.
"I believe that the people of northern Iraq will speak against the wrong policy [of KRG] which harms their own peace and prosperity," Erdoğan said.

He added that the KRG opportunist leadership acted hysterically and hurriedly, and will eventually account for it.

According to Erdoğan, the KRG sought to incorporate Kirkuk while having no historic right to do so, adding that Turkey will not put up with the presence of terrorist groups in the area.

"We will not turn a blind eye to those who open the area to a group with bloody hands like PKK. We will not allow the PKK, Daesh [in Iraq] and YPG in Syria to use the authority in a safe area. When the time comes, one night we will come to you suddenly and will do what we have to. Have we done it in Idlib? We have," Erdoğan said.
Erdoğan, addressing the local headmen in capital Ankara, said: "We regard the Kurds in Iraq and Syria the same as we regard Turkmen and Arabs."

Stressing that "no ethnicity is superior to the others," the president said: "Our only concern when fighting against PKK and Daesh is whether somebody is a member of those terror groups."

He said the PKK/PYD terrorist organization was exploiting the "Kurdish brothers".

"Turkey is an old friend of the Kurds just like its other brothers," he said and added: "When everyone leaves [the region], we will stay together."

He added that Turkey would not tolerate those Kurds "who support terrorists".
More than 1,200 people, including security force personnel and civilians, have lost their lives since the PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S., and EU -- resumed its decades-old armed campaign in July 2015.