"We cannot agree with the decision of the Iraqi authorities to send troops to Kirkuk. If the Iraqi Army enters Kirkuk it will face our stiff resistance," Huseyin Yazdanpena, commander of the Peshmerga units of the Kurdistan Freedom Party (PAK) in Kirkuk, told Sputnik Turkey.
For his striking resemblance to Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, Yazdanpena has been nicknamed the "Kurdish Stalin."
He said that previously Daesh made repeated attempts to take over Kirkuk and each of the attacks was repelled.
"The defense of Kirkuk has taken the lives of hundreds of Peshmerga fighters and city residents. Now, the Kurdish forces and civilians in Kirkuk are ready to continue defending the city. There isn’t such a force in the world that could take Kirkuk away from the Kurds," the commander said.
Earlier this week, the Iraqi parliament gave a mandate to Prime Minister Haider Abadi to deploy troops in Kirkuk. The decision was made in response to the results of an independence referendum in Iraqi Kurdistan.
Yazdanpena also underscored that Turkish forces on the territory of Iraqi Kurdistan are also an unacceptable variant.
"Turkey has economic interests in the region. I don’t think that Ankara wants to spoil its relations with Erbil. The Turkish government should take a peaceful and friendly policy towards Iraqi Kurdistan," he said.
