US Will Pay The Bill if Kirkuk Plunges Into Turmoil, Turkish PM Warns

"Any wrong move in Kirkuk will have a negative impact on peace in Iraq in the future," Erdogan told reporters at Ankara airport before he flew out to Davos, Switzerland for the World Economic Forum.

"The United Nations, America and the other coalition forces should never allow an unfavorable structure there," he said. "If they turn a blind eye to such a mistake, they will pay the bill in the future."

Ankara is vehemently opposed to Kurdish control of Kirkuk, which many Kurds want to incorporate into their enclave in northern Iraq and even see as the capital of a future independent Kurdish state, a nightmare scenario for Iraq's neighbors.

Separatist moves in northern Iraq, Ankara fears, may spill over to adjoining southeastern Turkey, which is home to its own large and restive Kurdish community.

Erdogan's remarks were the latest in a series of warnings issued by Ankara since mid-January when the Iraqi Kurds reached a deal with Baghdad that cleared the way for an estimated 100,000 Kurds said to have been expelled from Kirkuk under Saddam Hussein, to vote for the local government in Sunday's elections.

The deal effectively tipped the balance of power to the Kurds, fanning ethnic tensions in the city, which is also home to a large number of Arabs and Turkmens, a community of Turkish descent backed by Ankara.

Turkey has charged that more Kurds than those expelled in the past have now settled in the city and registered for the elections.