Tehran, Iran, Aug. 26
By Mehdi Sepahvand – Trend:
The threat of a referendum in the Iraqi Kurdistan has been the major issue that brought Iran and Turkey together, however limitedly, after long years of disagreement, Reza Abedi Gonabad, a Turkish affairs expert, told Trend Aug. 26.
“This comes against the backdrop of the Syrian conflict, in which Turkey has been at odds with Iran since the outbreak of the crisis in 2011. However, Ankara have made transitory shifts in their policies and approached Tehran, and considering the fact that the Kurdish referendum poses a territorial threat to these two countries, the shift in Ankara’s policies is not hard to justify,” Gonabad noted.
Iran and Turkey have been supporting opposite sides in the Syrian conflict, Tehran attempting to keep Bashar al-Assad as president, while Ankara pushing to oust him.
The Kurdish Regional Government has announced plan to hold a referendum on September 25. Iran and Turkey have spoken against the decision.
In mid-August, Head of the Iranian Staff of Armed Forces Mohammad Bagheri traveled to Turkey to hold high-level talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Defense Minister Nurettin Canikli, and to discuss a range of regional issues including the Kurdish referendum decision.