Iraq asks Turkey and Iran to close borders with Kurdistan

Almaty. October 9. Silkroadnews – Iraq asks Turkey and Iran to close the border with Kurdistan, the Iranian Telegraph Agency (IrTAG) reported referring to British newspaper Morning Star.
“Iraq has asked neighboring Turkey and Iran to close their borders with Iraqi Kurdistan amid a dispute with the autonomous Kurdish region its independence referendum, state television al-Iraqia reported,” the report said.
According to the channel, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iraq has submitted official memoranda to the embassies of Turkey and Iran in Baghdad and asked Ankara and Tehran to cease all relations with the Iraqi Kurdish region.
“The ministry has also requested stopping all trade transactions especially those related to oil with the Kurdistan territory and that dealing in this file should be with the Iraqi federal government only,” the agency quoted ministry spokesman Ahmed Mahjoub saying.
As the publication reminds, on September 25 Iraqi Kurdistan voted on its independence, having angered Baghdad and its neighbors. More than 92% of those who submitted ballots in a referendum voted for independence from Baghdad.
Baghdad has imposed a ban on international flights to and from airports in Kurdistan, saying that flights will resume if the central government takes the control over Kurdistan airports.
The referendum also alarmed Iraq’s neighbors - Turkey, Iran and Syria - all of them are concerned that their own Kurdish minorities could be encouraged to demand independence.