Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim (front) speaks to the media in Ankara, Turkey, on June 9, 2017. Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim on Friday called the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) in Iraq's decision to hold an independence referendum was "irresponsible," adding that Ankara championed Iraq's territorial integrity. (Xinhua/Mustafa Kaya)
ANKARA, June 9 (Xinhua) -- Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim on Friday called the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) in Iraq's decision to hold an independence referendum was "irresponsible," adding that Ankara championed Iraq's territorial integrity.
Speaking to reporters in Ankara after Friday prayers, Yildirim said Turkey wanted all Iraqis to live together as one nation, and added he did not find it right to add an additional problem to the region.
In a statement released earlier on Friday, Turkish Foreign Ministry said the independence referendum was "a grave mistake."
"The independence referendum will be of no benefit to the KRG or Iraq and will increase instability and produce negative outcomes," the statement criticized.
As a country with more than 10 million Kurds population and has fight against Kurdish separatist for decades, Turkey do not want to see the Kurdish referendum call on independence sense and threaten Turkey's territorial integrity eventually.
This week, Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region on Wednesday announced that it has planned to hold a referendum on independence on September 25, a move to decide whether to secede from Iraq.
