TEHRAN– Turkey’s parties are divided about Ankara stance twoards referendum in the Iraqi Kurdistan region despite the country’s president strong opposition with the semi-autonomous region’s attempts for independence. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday demanded that Iraqi Kurds call off a weekend referendum on independence, hinting at consequences if they go ahead. “Steps such […]

TEHRAN  – Leader of Iraq’s National Alliance Ammar al-Hakim warned against the consequences of a unilateral plan by the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Region to hold an independence referendum, saying that in case of the Arab country’s disintegration, all sides will be losers. In remarks released on Saturday, Hakim described the residents of the Kurdistan Region as […]

TEHRAN – Foreign Ministers of Iraq, Iran and Turkey held a trilateral meeting in New York on September 20, 2017 to discuss the referendum plan of the KRG. In the meeting, Iran’s Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iraq’s Ibrahim al-Jaafari, and Turkey’s Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu conferred on the Iraqi Kurdistan region’s upcoming referendum on independence slated for September […]

TEHRAN  – Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan late Tuesday warned of sanctions against the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) if it proceeds with its planned referendum for independence next week. “We have always supported” the KRG, Erdogan told reporters in New York after his address at the UN General Assembly. “We think this approach of theirs […]

Chancellor Angela Merkel says Berlin plans to restrict its business with Ankara in an attempt to pressure the Turkish government to release German citizens imprisoned in the country over political reasons. “We will have to further cut back our joint economic cooperation with Turkey and scrutinize projects,” Merkel said in a Saturday interview with the […]

TEHRAN – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan dismissed on Wednesday Western concern over Turkey’s deal to procure an S-400 air defense system from Russia and said the NATO member will continue to take its own security measures. “They went crazy because we made the S-400 agreement. What were we supposed to do, wait for you? […]

TEHRAN – The Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation said in a statement that Russia and Turkey had reached an agreement on Russian S-400 missile systems deliveries to Turkey. Moscow and Ankara reached an agreement on the delivery of Russian S-400 surface-to-air missile systems to Turkey and signed a contract, the cooperation said on Tuesday. Turkish […]

US prosecutors have charged two Turkish ex-officials with conspiring to evade US sanctions against Iran, a US attorney’s office has said in a filing. The indictment broadens a case targeting Turkish-Iranian businessman Reza Zarrab over sanctions evasion, which has fuelled tension between the United States and Turkey, reported Hurryiet Daily. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has […]

The European Union (EU)’s foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, says the bloc will continue its membership talks with Turkey despite disagreements with Ankara on human rights issues. “We are continuing to talk with Turkey,” Mogherini told reporters in the northwestern Slovenian town of Bled, where she attended the 2017 Bled Strategic Forum, on Monday. “We are not […]

TEHRAN – Qatar has opened a land and sea cargo line with Iran and Turkey in a bid to reduce the Arab country’s cargo shipping costs by 80 percent, a report said. Former editor-in-chief of Qatar’s al-Sharq newspaper, Jaber Al-Harmi, said via twitter that the Persian Gulf Arab state has opened a land and sea […]