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.
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.
The deaths occurred in the remote mountain region that is wedged between Iraq, Iran and Turkey that has long been a target of Turkish airstrikes. The operations have killed hundreds of sheep as well as civilians, according to members of the Bradost tribe who inhabit Sidekhan and routinely complain to US officials about the Turkish attacks.
The Kurdistan Regional Government, which controls Sidekhan, renewed calls on Turkey and the PKK to take their fight outside its territory. Ankara, as ever, is likely to turn a deaf ear.
