Al-Monitor- Just four months after accusing Iran of Persian �expansionism� in the Middle East, Turkish President Recep Tayyip�Erdogan�visited Tehran�on Oct. 4 to discuss bilateral cooperation and an expansion of economic ties�with the country's highest officials. One of the issues that has recently brought�Iran and Turkey closer�is the�Kurdish independence referendum�held Sept. 25 in northern Iraq. The vote�poses a challenge to both countries because of their own Kurdish populations.


While in Iran, Erdogan met with the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the�country's highest authority. Speaking about�the Iraqi Kurdistan referendum, Khamenei said, �In confronting this event, Iran and Turkey must take�every�possible action, and Iraq's government must take serious actions on this issue.��He called the referendum �treason� against�the region�and a future threat with possible long-term consequences.

Echoing previous remarks by�Erdogan, Khamenei said that the Kurdistan referendum was in the first instance�to the benefit of Israel and in the second�to the United States. He further stated�that foreign powers, in particular�Israel, want�to divert Iran and Turkey's attention�from important regional issues and asserted that the Kurdistan referendum would create a �new Israel.��The reference to a �new Israel� made headlines in a number of media outlets, including�coverage�by�Javan, a newspaper linked to�the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

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