Mass protests in many cities of Iraq, burning of Turkish flags, attacks by Shiites on the Turkish embassy in Baghdad, and shouting slogans condemning President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Nine tourists were killed and 23 injured in an attack believed to have been fired by Turkish artillery against fighters affiliated with the illegal Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in Dahuk province.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Kazimi said that “Iraqi sovereignty was clearly violated” and called for all Turkish soldiers to leave Iraqi territory.
Criticism of the attack was joined by the United States, which condemned the bombing and called the killing of tourists unacceptable. However, they did not name Turkey in the official statement. The US State Department states that “All states must respect their obligations under international law, including the protection of civilians.” Said. It also supported Iraq’s sovereignty, security, stability and prosperity,” he said.
“They died at the hands of the PKK”
The Iraqi Security Council, which Prime Minister Kazimierz called for a special meeting on Wednesday evening, demands a written response from Turkey and the withdrawal of the said Turkish forces. But he also warned that “Iraqi territory should not become a springboard for attacks on other countries” and denounced the existence of armed groups, which is a clear message to the PKK.
Among the dead are two children (one year old), a woman and a man. They all hail from central Iraq, where they come to the resort of Barach, famous for its waterfalls, to take a break from the sweltering heat in Baghdad and the central part of the country.
“The whole world knows that Turkey has never launched a counterattack against civilians,” Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu told TRT Haber on Thursday. Referring to the PKK, “Terrorist organizations have always been our target in Iraq.” The Turkish embassy in Iraq followed suit, saying that Iraqi tourists died “at the hands of the PKK”.
The head of Turkish diplomacy promised to cooperate with the Iraqi authorities, noting that the attack took place at a time when relations between the two countries were improving and Turkey was making progress in the fight against terrorism. Turkey launched an offensive against PKK members in the mountains of northern Iraq on April 11, but according to Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein, the PKK is targeting “villages and civilians” instead.
sense of impunity
Masrour Barzani, head of the Kurdish regional government, also complained of the violence that has repeatedly led to clashes between Turkey and the PKK. “It has cost our citizens unnecessary pain, suffering and suffering. This needs to stop,” said the Rudaw host.
Even long-time analyst Seth Frantzmann, who has been in the region, does not understand Turkey’s actions: “There is no excuse for shooting at civilians. And there is no evidence of militancy in the region… Ankara seems to have received a sense of impunity from the meeting in Tehran because of Russia-Iran ties. It is highly likely that Turkey did this to drive out tourists and evacuate areas like Afrin (Syria),” he wrote on Twitter.
Frantzmann told the Israeli newspaper The Jerusalem Post on Monday that Turkey aims to occupy a part of Iraqi territory for a long time in the future. “The fact that Turkey has already hit the Makhmur refugee camp and Sinjar, a genocide-stricken region of the Islamic State, gives more and more the impression that Turkey will never leave northern Iraq,” says the author of Drone Wars.
It also reminds of Turkey’s intention to undertake another military operation in northern Syria – the Turks will thus extend their fight against the “Kurdish terrorists” to the two neighboring countries.
The Iraqi province of Dahuk, where the attack took place, is on the map:
Source: Seznam Zpravy
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