Referendum on the Independence of the Kurdistan Region and the Emergence of a Balance of Threat in Relations between Iran and Turkey

The issue of Kurdistan independence has always been one of the most disputed points in Iraq and the region. The link between the Iraqi Kurdistan and the Kurds of Iran, Turkey and Syria has caused this issue to become an international issue, and as a result, the opinions of the local and national actors is inadequate to determine the region’s fate. This study aimed at analyzing the Iranian-Turkish foreign policy approach to the referendum on the independence of the Kurdistan region, and the research was done by a library method. Therefore, the main question of the research is that, given the political-security developments and problems in Iraq, Iran and Turkey, in spite of the differences between them regarding the holding of the referendum on the independence of the Kurdistan region, what approach did these countries adopt for their foreign policy instrument? The findings of the research show that in recent years, the main strategy of Iran and Turkey, along with numerous disagreements over the recent Middle East crisis, has had several components about Iraq, one of the most important of which is the emphasis and efforts to "Preserving territorial integrity" and oppose the breakdown of the country, so that to achieve this goal, the two countries have created a coalition for national interests. The two countries have a significant number of Kurds, and creating a Kurdish state in Iraq, constitutes a successful model in the region and affects the Kurds in the two countries. In addition, with the independence of the Kurdish region in Iraq, Kurdish parties inside the Iran and Turkey may become more aggressive in the border areas and create serious problems for the security of both Turkey and Iran.