Turkey today (September 20, 2017) escalated its opposition to a Kurdish independence referendum in northern Iraq by placing tanks and rocket launchers across its southern border and saying the break-up of its neighbor could lead to global conflict, according to the Yahoo News website.
Defense Minister Nurettin Caniki said in Ankara that the September 25 vote in Iraq posed a major risk and Turkey would take "every step" needed to thwart any similar steps in its mainly Kurdish southeast.
Iraqi Kurdish authorities have defied growing international pressure to call off the vote.
Kurds in northern Syria -- like those in Iraq -- have capitalized on the turmoil in both countries to consolidate a degree of autonomy. The U.S. has supported Kurdish fighters with military equipment and troop advisers in battling the Islamic State (IS) terror group, despite Turkish protests.
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