The countdown continues. Unless there is a great surprise in Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) President Masoud Barzani's statement today, a "referendum" is going to be held tomorrow in the regions held by the KRG in northern Iraq. Not only there, but also in regions identified as "disputed" enclaves. Kirkuk is the most well-known of these.

They stand against almost the entire world and say, "We are going to hold an independence referendum. Even if it means dying."

Barzani has also sent a message to Turkey. He asks, "What did we do?"

For days the addressees of the question have been making statements on what Barzani has done.

For example, Barzani “put Kurds under great danger.”

Also, he behaved like a soldier of the invaders, not a child of the region.

And finally, in the choice between his “childhood dream” and “reality,” he chose his “dream.”

Then wouldn’t Barzani be asked, “What more were you going to do?”

It would be incomplete if we said that there was no relationship between the referendum process in northern Iraq and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK)-affiliated Syrian Democratic Union Party (PYD) and its armed wing People’s Protection Units’ (YPG) terrorist corridor in northern Syria.

Also, if we didn’t include Qandil, which has been threatening Barzani’s power in Erbil…

And in addition to this, that Bagdad government has been unjust toward the Kurdish region that has been undergoing economic collapse…

Ok, all this had pushed Barzani into a corner.

However, Barzani pulled the pin out of the grenade right in the middle of the region for the sake of saving the future of his political movement and, of course, his own political future. He did not have to make this choice.

He chose to go down in history as, “The man that held the independence referendum. He could have gone down in history as, “The man who sought the rights of Kurds and people of the region,” but he didn’t.

Now, plans are being made on which country and which nation will be affected by Barzani’s grenade and how much.

Of course, there is still the likelihood that the referendum may not be held. However, the current atmosphere is not calm at all. It is not safe either.

The joint operation with the “invaders” to bind Kirkuk to the Erbil region is due in the near future for a major clash there.

Increased abuse and rape aimed at Turkmens will lead Turkey and Iran to “take measures.”

It will also lead to a showdown between the PYD-YPG/PKK terrorist organization in northern Syria that has been trained by the U.S., equipped with modern weapons and approved in the West and with its secular identity and the conservative Kurds represented by Barzani in the near future.

It is no prophecy to say that the concerns of the ethnicities in the region identified as the Kurdish region following this referendum will further increase, that tensions will escalate.

Northern Iraq’s already very sensitive internal peace is now under great danger.

The reflection of this process we described as an unpinned hand grenade on the region’s states will be a lot different.

Turkey and Iran are concerned both due to the instability in close vicinity and due to some of the Kurds inside their borders.

Turkey’s concerns have very concrete reasons. Only yesterday the PKK terrorist organization closed off a road in Tunceli and martyred our soldiers in Şemdinli.

What’s more, the terrorist corridor in northern Syria joining northern Iraq and the formation of a terrorist structuring in the corridor spanning the Mediterranean and the Iranian border is a problem of perpetuity for Turkey. It is aware of both the severing of its ties with the Muslim region and the threats targeting Turkey. Hence, statement upon statement is being made and measures are being taken to get Barzani to give up on his decision to hold the referendum. Most recently, the Justice and Development (AK) Party passed a resolution in Parliament with the Nationalist Movement Party (MPH) and Republican People’s Party’s (CHP) votes.

We will control our temper. We will be aware that this matter is not an issue of “Kurdishness.”

We will remember the kind of maneuvers Barzani made throughout his entire political life.

Eventually, we will do what is necessary.

Because if the unpinned grenade explodes, Turkey will be greatly harmed.

We are on watch.

We are lacking a great deal in the fight against the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETÖ). There is no cooperation between state bodies. And of course, prosecutions are being delayed. In addition to this, those who have other plans on their minds, are muddying the waters in the name of so-called “constructive criticism” through arguments produced by FETÖ.

In part of his statement to Turkish journalists in the U.S., President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said, “Especially when the convictions start, their [FETÖ members] state will be a lot different.” This statement gives us clues to how the finalization of prosecutions and convictions at once will impact FETÖ’s motivation.

In addition to this, I personally believe that even if there were no fight against the group whatsoever from now on, FETÖ that has been convicted in the hearts of the people and will no longer gain the same old power again, even if it continues its existence.

However, FETÖ is no longer the name of a terrorist organization alone. It also represents a type, a style of behavior. Behavior types we identified as FETÖ, FETÖ member have been formed.

Because this organization tampered with this nation’s religious, cultural and, unfortunately, its moral codes.

The FETÖ terrorist organization is being eliminated, being removed entirely from the state. Even though much progress has not yet been made in the fight against its cryptos.

Yet, there are many diseases it handed down to us in the form of behavior types. The fight against that is going to be much longer and difficult.

We are aware of what it is these days.