Turkish military shares new photographs of drills near Iraqi border

The Turkish Armed Forces (TAF) released new photographs of the military drills at the Silopi/Habur region near the Iraqi border.

The photographs portray the armored units participating in the military drills.

The military drills were initiated in the early hours of Sept. 18, a week before the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) independence referendum.

KRG neighbors Turkey and Iran as well as the central Iraqi government, have condemned the referendum, saying it would only fuel more conflict.

The drills are being conducted three kilometers away from the border. Many military vehicles, mainly tanks, are participating in the drills.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan threatened to impose sanctions against the KRG over the referendum, piling economic pressure on Kurdish authorities after Turkish troops deployed near the main commercial border crossing.

Turkey has warned that any breakup of neighbouring Iraq or Syria could lead to a global conflict, and is due to prepare a formal response on Friday, three days before the referendum.

Erdoğan said the Turkish cabinet and security council would discuss Ankara's options. They will "put forward their own stance on what kind of sanctions we can impose, or if we will," he told reporters in New York.