Kurds

Turnout was 72 per cent, with 3.3 million of 4.58 million registered voters taking part in elections

Kurds have never lived under single, centralised power

'Leaders of autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan must call off the referendum that is contrary to the constitution'

The government requires to take all steps to protect the unity of Iraq

Security forces targeted outposts and caves used by the militants for shelter and storage

Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region has said it would hold a referendum on independence on September 25

Ankara considers the YPG a terrorist group, while Washington considers it as a main fighting force against IS

About 5 million Kurds live in majority Arab Iraq, which has a population of more than 30 million

Equipment provided to the SDF would be limited, specific to a mission

More than 40,000 people have been killed in the PKK's insurgency

In the last five months alone, the Turkish armed forces have killed 886 PKK militants

Turkey believes a string of Islamic State gun and bomb attacks were planned from al-Bab

Operations were launched because police believed PKK leadership had instructed militants to organise armed rebellions

"It is a very unfortunate statement," Erdogan said

HRW said that 24 civilians, including six children, were killed in Turkey's airstrikes

According to security sources attack targeted the Cevizpinar village outpost, near the border with Syria

The Pentagon has deployed more than 200 special forces troops alongside the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF)

Cole is among a small band of Westerners who have made their own way to Iraq to take up arms against IS

'These people don't deserve to be our citizens' Erdogan

The United States has said it does not consider the YPG a terrorist group

Since September, the Russians have been carrying out strikes against groups of fighters opposed to Syrian President

Around 150 soldiers and police have been killed in PKK bombings and shootings since the return to open conflict

German defence ministry says we have indications there was an attack with chemical weapons against Kurdish fighters

Turkish president says a state subjected to an armed attack has right to defend itself with arms

The violence has triggered terrifying memories of the 1990s, when arrests, murders and clashes made life a nightmare