Erdogan tells Iraqi Kurds they will go hungry if Turkey imposes sanctions

HABUR, Turkey – Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said Iraqi Kurds would go hungry if his country halts the flow of trucks and oil across the border with northern Iraq and warned that all military and economic measures were on the table against its neighbour.

The comments, some of the harshest yet from Erdogan about Monday's referendum in Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish region, came as Iraqi troops joined the Turkish army for military exercises near Turkey's border with northern Iraq.

While initial results indicated overwhelming support for independence, Turkey—long northern Iraq's main link to the outside world—sees the referendum as a threat to its own security, fearing it will inflame separatism among its Kurdish population.