Initial results are expected in the Kurdish independence referendum with a strong “yes” vote seen as likely.<br /><br />But since polls closed on Monday evening the region’s neighbours have repeated warnings that they won’t accept the vote as legitimate.<br /><br />Kurdish leaders have hailed it as historic, but Turkey’s President Erdogan has called it a threat to national security.<br /><br />As newspapers in Ankara hinted at military intervention, the president said all options were on the table and Turkey wouldn’t hesitate to use the means at its disposal.<br /><br />Erdogan has repeatedly threatened economic sanctions, giving few details.<br /><br />The Iraqi government has said it won’t hold talks with the Kurdistan Regional Government over results off the referendum it calls “unconstitutional”.<br /><br />But in Turkey’s Kurdish-majority southeast, residents have welcomed the referendum in the neighbouring territory.<br /><br />In Diyarbakir there’ve been no visible celebrations after the vote; local media have called for the border with Iraq to remain open. <br /><br />“As a Kurd living in the other part of Kurdistan, that referendum made me so happy. Now wherever we go in the world we know that we have a state. We want the Kurdish government in Iraq to declare independence very soon,” said one resident, Dilges Osman.<br /><br />Away from the calm in the streets, at least one witness reported seeing Iraqi and Turkish troops holding military exercises in southeastern Turkey.<br />
