Searching question for Erdoğan from Rudaw's editor-in-chief

Following the holding of Barzani’s independence referendum in Northern Iraq, AKP General Chair and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan spoke of the sanctions that would be applied. Erdoğan said, “Along with all these, let us see where and through which channels the Northern Iraq Regional Government is now going to send or sell its petrol. We have the stopcock. The moment we close the stopcock, this business will be over, too.” Erdoğan also commented, “When we start applying our sanctions, you will disappear from the scene. We didn’t expect Barzani to make this error and we were mistaken.”
 
The reply to Erdoğan’s “We were mistaken” outburst was not long in coming from the Barzani government. Rebwar Kerim Weli, Editor-in-Chief of Rudaw, known for its closeness to Barzani, addressed Erdoğan in an article he penned. Weli wrote, “Your excellency the President, you say, ‘We were at their sides at the worst of times. We were mistaken.’ Assad deceived you. As did Netanyahu. As did Obama. Is Mr Barzan also the latest? How is it that you are so easily deceived? No, your excellency the President, Kurdistan and President Barzani did not deceive you at all. But, you perhaps deceived the Kurdish people for the votes you felt you needed on the way to the presidential system.”
 
“THE VOTE YOU GOT IS LEGITIMATE, SO WHY IS THE 92% ‘YES’ VOTE ILLEGITIMATE?”
 
Weli commented as follows in the article with the headline, “Mr Erdoğan, be a true man!”:
 
“Even as of the first day, you pronounced the independence referendum which 92% of the Kurdish people supported to be ‘illegitimate and a disgrace.’ Why, your excellency the President? The 51.4% of the vote you got in the referendum on the ‘Presidential system of government’ is legitimate, so why is the 92% ‘yes’ vote that the Kurdish people gave in favour of their self-determination illegitimate? Because we are Kurdish?”
 
“WHERE DID THE MONEY FROM THE KURDISH PETROL YOU SOLD GO?”
 
Touching on Erdoğan’s comments about sanctions, Weli continued his article as follows:
 
“Then, you threaten to ‘close the stopcock?’ Despite Baghdad’s objections, with Kurdish petrol being sent to Ceyhan and, from there, travelling as far as the Gulf of Mexico by ship – whose are those ships? -  why did you not close the stopcock? Where did the money from the Kurdish petrol you sold go? Why did it not occur to you to close the stopcock with the money sitting in Halkbank despite Baghdad’s objections?

“HOW IS IT THAT YOU ARE SO EASILY DECEIVED?”
 
Your excellency the President, you say, ‘We were at their sides at the worst of times. We were mistaken.’ Assad deceived you. As did Netanyahu. As did Obama. Is Mr Barzan also the latest? How is it that you are so easily deceived? No, your excellency the President, Kurdistan and President Barzani did not deceive you at all. But, you perhaps deceived the Kurdish people for the votes you felt you needed on the way to the presidential system.”
 
Did you not invite Mr Mesud Barzani, who you now say, ‘has betrayed this country,’ to the Kurdish provinces in the capacity of ‘President’ in election periods? Was Mr Barzani not the President of Kurdistan when you were saying ‘Megri Megri’ together at rally grounds? Has the Kurdistan flag, hoisted on the pole in Ankara in days when you felt the need for its support, now become illegitimate?”
 
“ARE YOU TO ALLY WITH IS?”
 
Weli wrote: “You threaten to burn all the bridges that have been set up between Kurdistan and Turkey and say the military option is on the table. Are you now to bomb Kurdistan following BAATH? Are Turkish soldiers stationed in Kurdistan with the Kurdish government’s permission to wage war with the Peshmerga and the Kurdistan people? Or, are you to ally with the Hashdi Shabi, which has stated it will battle the Turkish army at every opportunity, or with IS, which burns Turkish soldiers alive?”


“IS KURDISTAN TO SEEK PERMISSION FOR ITS OWN SELF-DETERMINATION?”
 
Weli, saying in his article, “Remember, your excellency the President, that the blood of Turkish soldiers and Peshmergas flowed together in Kurdistan. Peshmergas and Turkish soldiers have become blood brothers,” commented as follows: “Your excellency the President, you say, ‘We are giving loans. When you set out to make such a move, you do not say, “Let’s ask”.’ Is Kurdistan to seek permission for its own self-determination? Did the Turkish people seek permission?
 
Your excellency the President, you have constantly requested assistance and support for domestic peace in your own country. Is it for failing to get permission from you for the independence referendum that Mr Barzani has now once more become a ‘traitor’ and ‘tribal leader’?
 
Your excellency the President, I entered this world as a refugee, I have always lived as a refuge and I will perhaps die as a refugee. But, my child and the children of Kurdistan will henceforth live in a free country and not as refugees.
 
Your excellency the President, do not burn the bridges of trust, fraternity and peace that have been built with difficulty between Turks and Kurds, between Turkey and Kurdistan. Do not sow the seeds of enmity and hate between Kurdistan and Turkey. As you have always said, ‘On the stone bier, they will mourn a true man, not a president.’ Be a true man.”