title: Turkey wants Iraq's Kurdish region to drop referendum, avoid sanctions
text: ANKARA (Reuters) - The planned independence referendum for Kurdish northern Iraq represents a direct threat to Turkey s security, and Ankara hopes it will be canceled so it can avoid implementing sanctions, Turkey s government spokesman said. Bekir Bozdag made the comments at a news conference following a cabinet meeting chaired by President Tayyip Erdogan. Turkey has threatened to impose sanctions on Kurdish northern Iraq over the referendum, but Bozdag did not give any details about what those could entail. 