Turkey halts flights to 2 cities in Iraqi Kurdish region

ISTANBUL, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim announced on Friday that all flights from Turkey to Erbil and Suleymaniyah in the Iraqi Kurdish region are set to be halted indefinitely as of 18:00 local time.

"We will not travel to Suleymaniyah and Erbil in accordance with the decision taken by the civil aviation authority of the Iraq central government," the premier said in Canakkale in northwestern Turkey.

"Our measures are not limited to this," he added, vowing to take more step by step in response to the vote on independence by the Iraqi Kurdish region on Monday despite vehement opposition from Turkey and other countries.