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September 18th, 2017 
Awake Goy 
nsnbc : Turkey’s military has launched an exercise on the Turkey – Iraq border. The exercise started on September 18, one week before the independence referendum in Iraq’s Kurdistan Autonomous Region.
Turkey’s military reported that the exercise takes place in the Silopi province near the Habur border crossing. The military said the exercise is “part of Turkey’s anti-terror operations” in the border region.
The exercise reportedly involves around 100 military vehicles including taks, as well as towed howitzers and launching pads – among others. nsnbc international spoke with local sources who stated that they observed troop movements suggesting that the “exercise” could quickly be scaled up or turned hot.
The announcement about the “drill” came after Turkey, over the course of the last months, steadily increased its criticism of the scheduled independence referendum in the Kurdistan Autonomous Region in Iraq. The referendum is scheduled for September 25. Several leading Turkish politicians implied that the referendum or a declaration of independence could be a casus belli for Turkey.
Most recently Turkey has said Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) President Massoud Barzani’s push to hold an independence referendum is an issue of national security and Ankara will therefore take “all necessary measures.”
The military drill could be interpreted as further “posturing and positioning” to send a message to the Kurdistan Autonomous Region where almost all parties, and certainly major parties like the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and Gorran (Change Movement) – despite disagreements about the modalities and timing – support the referendum.
The risk for a direct military confrontation should, however, not be under-estimated. Turkey is regularly engaging troops of Turkey’s Kurdistan Worker’s party (PKK) who withdrew from Turkey to the KAR under a peace accord that was unilaterally canceled by Ankara in 2015. Any open conflict on the border or Turkish incursions risk drawing Iraqi Peshmerga into the equation.
Moreover, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will meet Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi in New York at the upcoming U.N. meetings, as well as United States President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron, in a bid to coordinate efforts to this end.
Erdogan has said Turkey’s “decisive stance” will be announced on September 22 following the National Security Council (MGK) meeting under the leadership of himself and with the participation of senior military and civilian officials.
CH/L – nsnbc 18.09.2017
Source Article from https://nsnbc.me/2017/09/18/ahead-of-kurdistan-independence-referendum-turkey-launched-military-drills-on-iraqi-border/
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