BICOM

The President of Turkey yesterday warned Israel that continued support for Kurdish independence could sour diplomatic ties between the two countries.

Speaking to the official Anadolu news agency,  Recep Tayyip Erdogan advised Israel to “review” its support for Kurdish independence or jeopardise “a lot of steps that we were about to take with Israel”. He continued saying: “It is not possible for us to take steps with those who do not see Turkey as a playmaker in the region. Turkey is a playmaker in the region.”

The Turkish President added that “the waving of Israeli flags there will not save” the Kurds from sanctions imposed upon them by Turkey, after they were seen at recent demonstrations in Iraqi Kurdistan. He also said that the Kurdish autonomous region of Iraq would not survive without Turkish assistance to export its oil.

The leader of Israel’s Yesh Atid Party, Yair Lapid, said: “Erdogan’s threat to freeze ties if Israel continues to support Kurdish independence is empty,” adding that “we don’t take orders from them.”

On Monday Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly told ministers not to comment on the Kurdish independence referendum in Iraq due to the issue being “too sensitive,” as one official put it.

Israel officials have been broadly supportive of the Kurdish people’s drive for independence. Netanyahu said that Israel “supports the legitimate efforts of the Kurdish people to achieve a state of their own” in a statement on 13 September and the late former President Shimon Peres expressed a similar sentiment in 2014.

Israel’s relations with Turkey were normalised in June 2016, ending a six-year hiatus. Relations collapsed in 2010 after nine Turkish citizens were killed while trying to prevent Israeli commandos taking over a Gaza-bound protest ship, the Mavi Marmara.

In a related development, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi ordered the Kurdish autonomous region to hand control of its airports to the Iraqi Government in response to Monday’s independence referendum, which he called a “historic and strategic mistake by the Kurdish leadership”.

UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson urged “all sides to refrain from provocative statements and actions in the aftermath of the referendum. The priority must remain the defeat of Daesh and returning stability to liberated areas”.

The official results of the referendum are expected today, with a “yes” vote widely expected.