Turkey warns Kurdish leaders to call off independence vote

ISTANBUL — The Turkish parliament renewed a bill Saturday allowing the military to intervene in Iraq and Syria if faced with national security threats — a move seen as a final warning to Iraqi Kurds to call off their Monday independence referendum.

The decree, renewed annually since 2014 and set to expire next month, allows Turkey to send troops over its southern border if developments in Iraq and Syria are perceived as national security threats.

The mandate, read in parliament Saturday, lists combatting Kurdish militants operating in Syria and Iraq as well as the Islamic State group as national security requirements.