Iraq’s government has banned international flights to Iraqi Kurdistan and ordered joint military drills along the country’s shared border with Iran, in its latest retaliation for a vote by Iraqi Kurds to form an independent nation. The move came after nearly 93 percent of voters approved a referendum a week ago to break away from Iraq. Meanwhile, Turkey’s authoritarian president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said Iraqi Kurdish leaders would “pay any price” for their move toward independence.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan: “They are not forming an independent state in northern Iraq. On the contrary, they are opening a wound in the region to twist the knife in. Ignoring this fact will do no good, neither to us nor to our Kurdish brothers in Iraq or other parties.”