BAGHDAD —
Iraq on Tuesday summoned Turkey’s ambassador to
Baghdad in protest at a new Turkish offensive targeting rebels in the north’s
autonomous Kurdistan region.
اضافة اعلان
Turkey on Monday said it has launched an air and
ground offensive against militants of the outlawed
Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in northern Iraq.
Iraq handed Turkish ambassador Ali Riza Guney a
“firmly-worded note of protest” urging its northern neighbor to “put an end to
acts of provocation and unacceptable violations”, the foreign ministry said in
a statement.
Designated as a
terrorist group by
Ankara and its Western allies, the PKK has been waging an
insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984 that has claimed tens of
thousands of lives.
Turkey routinely carries out attacks in northern
Iraq, where the PKK has bases and training camps in the Sinjar region and on
the mountainous border with Turkey.
“The Iraqi government renews its call for the
withdrawal of all
Turkish forces from Iraqi territories in a manner that
reflects binding respect for national sovereignty,” the Iraqi statement said.
Iraqi President
Barham Saleh, himself a Kurd, on Tuesday
condemned the Turkish offensive as a “violation of Iraqi sovereignty and a
threat to national security”.
The repeated Turkish operations have tested
relations between Baghdad and Ankara, key trade partners.
They also complicate ties with the regional
government in
Iraqi Kurdistan, which has an uneasy relationship with the PKK.
The latest offensive comes two days after a visit to Ankara
by the Kurdistan region’s prime minister, Masrour Barzani.
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