title: Turkey calls on Barzani to cancel northern Iraq referendum
text: ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey made a directly appeal to the president of the northern Iraqi Kurdish region on Friday, calling on him to cancel an independence referendum planned for Sept. 25, warning that Ankara viewed the vote as illegal and unacceptable. In a statement, Turkey s National Security Council called on Massoud Barzani to stop the referendum, saying it retained the rights defined in bilateral and international agreements if the vote were held. It did not elaborate on the nature of those rights.  The statement followed a meeting of the council, which was chaired by President Tayyip Erdogan. Erdogan is also due to hold a cabinet meeting later on Friday. 