Iraq tells Turkey defense minister to stay away after its officers killed in drone strike

Iraq cancelled a planned Baghdad visit by Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar and summoned the Turkish ambassador after a a Turkish drone attack killed two senior Iraqi officials.
The Bayraktar TB2 drone is pictured flying on December 16, 2019 at Gecitkale Airport in Famagusta in the self-proclaimed Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). - The Turkish military drone was delivered to northern Cyprus today amid growing tensions over Turkey's deal with Libya that extended its claims to the gas-rich eastern Mediterranean. The Bayraktar TB2 drone landed in Gecitkale Airport in Famagusta around 0700 GMT, an AFP correspondent said, after the breakaway northern Cyprus government approve
The Bayraktar TB2 drone is pictured flying on Dec. 16, 2019 at Gecitkale Airport in Famagusta in the self-proclaimed Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). - BIROL BEBEK/AFP via Getty Images
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Amberin Zaman
@amberinzaman

Turkey’s deadly pursuit of Kurdish rebels in Iraqi territory elicited an unusually harsh response from Baghdad after two high-ranking Iraqi border officials perished in a Turkish drone attack in the Sidekhan area yesterday. Iraq announced today that it had cancelled a planned Aug. 13 visit by Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar to Baghdad and that it had summoned the Turkish ambassador to relay its fury over what it termed a “dangerous violation of Iraqi sovereignty.”

Turkey has not formally responded to Baghdad’s accusations.

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