IRBIL, Iraq: The United States says it鈥檚 鈥渄eeply disappointed鈥� that Iraqi Kurds held a referendum on independence Monday, calling the vote 鈥渦nilateral.鈥�
State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert says the move will 鈥渋ncrease instability and hardships鈥� for the Kurdish region of Iraq. She says it will also complicate the ability of the regional Kurdish government to work with Iraq鈥檚 central government and neighboring countries.
Still, Nauert says the US won鈥檛 alter its 鈥渉istoric relationship鈥� with Iraqi Kurds because of the referendum.
Nauert also says the US opposes moves by any parties to change boundaries in Iraq. She says the Daesh group and other extremists are hoping to 鈥渆xploit instability and discord.鈥�
The vote has deeply alarmed Iraq鈥檚 government as well as neighboring Turkey and Iran. The nonbinding vote is expected to pass overwhelmingly.
The United Nations warns of the 鈥減otentially destabilizing鈥� effects of the referendum carried out in Iraq鈥檚 Kurdish region Monday.
The statement from the organization鈥檚 secretary general released after polls closed Monday says 鈥渁ll outstanding issues between the federal government and the Kurdistan Regional Government should be resolved through structured dialogue and constructive compromise.鈥�
The vote in a referendum on support for independence Monday has rattled the region鈥檚 relations with Baghdad and regional powers.
The vote is non-binding and not expected to result in immediate independence, but Kurdish leaders say it will open the door to negotiations with Baghdad for greater autonomy.
Turkey鈥檚 military has confirmed that Turkey and Iraq will conduct joint military drills in Turkey, along an area bordering Iraq鈥檚 semi-autonomous Kurdish region.
A military statement on Monday announced a new 鈥減hase鈥� in the military exercises that were launched last week in a clear warning to Iraqi Kurds, saying units from Iraq鈥檚 armed forces would arrive in Turkey later in the evening to join Turkish troops.
The joint drills are set to kick off Tuesday, the military said, without providing details.
The Turkish military also published photographs of Iraqi troops, including one showing them holding the flags of Turkey and Iraq and posing in front of an Iraqi Air Force plane.
Iraq鈥檚 ministry of defense says it鈥檚 launching 鈥渓arge scale鈥� joint military exercises with Turkey along their shared border.
The announcement Monday night followed the closing of polls in the controversial Kurdish referendum on independence from Iraq that both Baghdad and Ankara spoke out against.
Earlier Monday From Istanbul, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened military intervention in Iraq in response to the vote, stressing that Kurdish independence was unacceptable to his country.
Polls have closed across Iraq鈥檚 Kurdish region and in disputed territories where residents cast ballots in a referendum on support for independence, according to local television broadcasts.
The vote is not binding and is not expected to result in independence any time soon, but was hailed as historic by Kurdish leaders spearheading the campaign.
The vote is widely expected to be an overwhelming 鈥測es鈥� in support for independence and initial official results are expected on Tuesday.
The head of the Kirkuk police department says the governor has imposed a curfew in the Iraqi city following the closing of polls in a controversial referendum on Kurdish independence.
Brig. Sarhad Qader says the curfew was imposed Monday night to 鈥減rotect the civilians and the communities鈥� in the city claimed by both Baghdad and the Kurdish region.
Iraqi Kurds voted in a referendum on support for independence Monday despite calls from Baghdad and the international community to call off the vote, fearing it could lead to instability and the outbreak of violence.
Qader says the curfew will be lifted at 6 a.m. on Tuesday.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russia鈥檚 Vladimir Putin have spoken over the phone about the contentious Iraqi Kurdish vote in support for independence and stressed the importance of Iraq and Syria鈥檚 territorial integrity.
Erdogan鈥檚 office said after Monday鈥檚 phone call that Putin would visit Ankara on Thursday to discuss developments in the region, including the Kurdish referendum. There was no immediate confirmation from Moscow.
Turkey, which has a large Kurdish population of its own and is fighting insurgents on its territory, strongly opposes any moves toward the creation of a separate Kurdish state.
Erdogan earlier in the day threatened the Iraqi Kurds with military action as well as sanctions, including cutting the Iraqi Kurdish region鈥檚 oil exports.
An Iraqi lawmaker says the country鈥檚 parliament has approved several tough measures in response to the Iraqi Kurds鈥� contentious vote on support for independence from Baghdad.
Shiite lawmaker Hakim Al-Zamili says the measures will force Baghdad to act to 鈥減rotect Iraq鈥檚 unity and to deploy troops in all areas鈥� where they were before the 2014 blitz by the Daesh group.
Al-Zamili says measures approved on Monday also call for closing all border crossings with the Kurdish region.
He says the parliament considers the Kurdish referendum unconstitutional and calls for taking legal measures against all Kurdish officials and employees who took part in the vote.
The referendum on independence is non-binding, but it has strained tensions with Baghdad and regional powers. The United States has strongly opposed the move, saying it could destabilize the region.
Syria鈥檚 foreign minister says his country doesn鈥檛 recognize the Iraqi Kurdish referendum on support for independence from Baghdad, saying Damascus rejects any measure that could break up neighboring Iraq.
The Syrian state news agency SANA says Walid Al-Moallem spoke on Sunday in New York. Syria鈥檚 has a large Kurdish minority that last week had its own vote as part of a move toward a federal system within Syria.
Syria, like Turkey and Iran, opposes the vote in Iraq, fearing that Kurdish communities within Syria might eventually do the same.
Al-Moallem described the Iraqi Kurdish vote as a 鈥渟tep that we do not recognize鈥� and stressed that the government in Damascus only recognizes a 鈥渟ole, united Iraq. He says: 鈥淲e reject any measure the leads to dividing Iraq.鈥�
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is threatening a military intervention in Iraq in response to the Iraqi Kurdish region鈥檚 referendum on independence from Baghdad.
Erdogan, speaking at a conference in Istanbul as Iraqi Kurds voted in their region on Monday, said that Kurdish independence was unacceptable to his country and that this was a 鈥渕atter of survival.鈥�
He pointed to Turkish military exercises currently taking place on Turkey鈥檚 border with the Iraqi Kurdish region.
Erdogan said: 鈥淥ur military is not (at the border) for nothing.鈥� He also added: 鈥淲e could arrive suddenly one night.鈥�
Erdogan also said Turkey would take political, economic as well as military measures against Iraqi Kurds鈥� steps toward independence and also suggested that Turkey could halt oil flows from a pipeline from northern Iraq.
Erdogan said: 鈥淟et鈥檚 see where 鈥� and through which channels 鈥� will they sell their oil. We have the valve. The moment we shut the valve, that鈥檚 the end of it.鈥�
Erdogan said a border crossing with Iraq had been closed in one direction and that Turkey would shut it entirely.
Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim says his country is considering closing down its airspace as well as a border gate to northern Iraq, in response to a referendum on independence in Iraq鈥檚 Kurdish region and disputed territories 鈥� a vote that Turkey strongly opposes.
Yildirim also said on Monday that officers and experts from Iraq鈥檚 army would join military exercises that Turkey launched along the border in an apparent warning to the Iraqi Kurds.
The Turkish premier said Ankara would from now on 鈥渆nter a strong鈥� dialogue with Baghdad, saying it regarded the central government in the Irai capital as the legitimate authority over border crossings, airports and oil trade in the Kurdish region.
He says Turkey had received a formal request from Baghdad requesting the closure of the airspace and border crossing. Yildirim also suggested that Turkey would take action if the Turkmen population came under attack or if Turks encountered 鈥渙bstructions or problems鈥� at the border crossing.
Iran has described the Iraqi Kurdish referendum on support for independence from Baghdad as 鈥渦ntimely and wrong鈥� and reiterated its support for Iraq鈥檚 territorial integrity.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi told reporters on Monday that the vote could 鈥渓ead to developments and happenings that could affect all people of the region and especially Kurdish people.鈥�
Ghasemi reiterated that Iran supports the 鈥渢erritorial integrity and democratic process鈥� in Iraq.
Since Sunday, Iran鈥檚 powerful Revolutionary Guard has been having a military exercise in its northwestern Kurdish region bordering Iraq in a sign of Tehran鈥檚 concerns over the Iraqi Kurdish vote.
Iran鈥檚 semi-official ISNA news agency reported that on Sunday that the Supreme National Security Council closed Iranian airspace to the Iraqi Kurdish area at the request of the central government in Baghdad.
Iran and Iraq have been close allies since the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq toppled dictator Saddam Hussein. Both are opposed to Kurdish independence.
In June, the country鈥檚 Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told visiting Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi, that Iraq 鈥渟hould remain integrated鈥� and that advocates of Kurdish independence are 鈥渙pponents of the independence and identity鈥� of Iraq.
The prime minister of Iraq鈥檚 northern Kurdish region says the referendum on independence that is underway there doesn鈥檛 mean 鈥渞edrawing borders鈥� and will not result in immediate independence.
Nechirvan Barzani says that even if the result of the vote is a 鈥測es,鈥� the region will resolve its disputes with Baghdad peacefully. He spoke at a press conference on Monday morning in Irabil, the Kurdish regional capital.
Voting is taking place across the region and in disputed territories claimed by both Baghdad and the Kurds, including the oil-rich city of Kirkuk.
The referendum on independence, while non-binding, has strained tensions with Baghdad and regional powers. The United States has come out strongly opposed to the move, cautioning that it could distract from the ongoing fight against the Daesh group.
In Baghdad, residents have strongly criticized the Iraqi Kurds鈥� independence referendum, saying it would raise sectarian tensions and create an 鈥淚srael in Iraq.鈥�
An Arabic newspaper headline on Monday said 鈥淜urdistan into the unknown,鈥� a reference to the name Kurds use for their region.
Journalist Raad Mohammad said the vote represents a 鈥渄ivision of Iraq,鈥� and added that it was 鈥渦nacceptable for the Iraqi people as well as many other countries.鈥�
Another Baghdad resident, Ali Al-Rubayah, described the referendum as a 鈥渂lack day in the history of the Kurds,鈥� adding that 鈥渢oday, the Kurds are trying to make an Israeli state in the north of Iraq.鈥�
Lawyer Tariq Al-Zubaydi said the referendum was inappropriate amid the 鈥渙ngoing threat of terrorism and Islamic State鈥� and that a 鈥渦nified country is better for all.鈥�
Turkey says it doesn鈥檛 recognize the Iraqi Kurdish region鈥檚 referendum on support for independence from Baghdad and insists its results will be 鈥渘ull and void.鈥�
Turkey鈥檚 Foreign Ministry released a statement as polls opened in Iraq鈥檚 Kurdish-run provinces and disputed territories on Monday, with Ankara calling on the international community 鈥� and especially regional countries 鈥� not to recognize the vote either.
It also urges Iraq Kurdish leaders to abandon 鈥渦topic goals,鈥� accusing them of endangering peace and stability for Iraq and the whole region. The ministry reiterated that Turkey would take all measures to thwart threats to its national security.
On Saturday, Turkey鈥檚 parliament met in an extraordinary session to extend a mandate allowing Turkey鈥檚 military to send troops over its southern border if developments in Iraq and Syria are perceived as national security threats.
Polls have opened in Iraq鈥檚 Kurdish-run provinces and disputed territories as Iraqi Kurds cast ballots in support for independence from Baghdad in a historic but non-binding vote.
Millions are expected to vote on Monday across the three provinces that make up the Kurdish autonomous region, as well as residents in disputed territories 鈥� areas claimed by both Baghdad and the Kurds, including the oil-rich city of Kirkuk.
The vote is being carried out despite mounting regional opposition to the move. The United States has warned the vote will likely destabilize the region amid the fight with the Daesh group.
Baghdad has also come out strongly against the referendum, demanding on Sunday that all airports and borders crossings in the Kurdish region be handed back to federal government control.