Turkish army raises level of drill near Iraqi border

Source: Xinhua| 2017-09-23 20:45:23|Editor: Zhou Xin
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ANKARA, Sept. 23 (Xinhua) -- The Turkish Armed Forces on Saturday raised the level of a military drill near the Turkish-Iraqi border since this Monday.

According to a military source, the drill has risen to the "second stage" on Saturday, and will continue with the participation of additional troops.

The military drill started on Sept. 18 in the Silopi district of southeastern Sirnak province, just one week before an independent referendum held by Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) slated for Sept. 25.

The exercise area sits to the north of the Syrian and Iraqi borders and contains the Habur border crossing, which provides the KRG with its main access point to the outside world.

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim warned on Saturday that Turkey's response to the planned independence referendum in northern Iraq's Kurdish region will have security, diplomatic, political and economic dimensions.

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