Sulaymaniyah, July 21 (BNA): The official Iraqi News Agency stated that the Iraqi government will summon the Iraqi Chargé d’Affairs in Turkey for consultations after accusing Ankara of carrying out a raid on a mountain resort in the northern Iraqi province of Dohuk. .
Turkey refuted Iraq’s allegations that it carried out a raid that killed eight tourists and wounded 23 others, saying the attack was an act of terrorism.
Iraqi state television reported that “heavy artillery shelling” hit a resort in the city of Zakho, on the border between the Kurdistan region of Iraq and Turkey.
The Iraqi cabinet also directed the Foreign Ministry to summon the Turkish envoy in Baghdad to protest the attack.
“Turkish forces have committed a flagrant violation of Iraq’s sovereignty,” Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi wrote on Twitter. President Barham Salih also condemned the attack.
The United States said it strongly supports Iraq’s sovereignty, Reuters reported.
“The killing of civilians is unacceptable, and all states must respect their obligations under international law, including the protection of civilians,” said US State Department spokesman Ned Price.
The Kurdish Minister of Health said in a statement that among the victims were one-year-old children, adding that all the victims died before they reached the hospital.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry said Ankara was sad to hear of casualties in the attack, and added that Turkey was taking utmost care to avoid civilian casualties or damage to historical cultural sites in its counter-terrorism operations against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militia. others.
“Turkey is ready to take every step to reveal the truth,” the ministry said in a statement, adding that Turkey’s military operations are in line with international laws.
“We call on the Iraqi government not to make statements influenced by the rhetoric and propaganda of the infamous terrorist organization, and to cooperate in exposing the perpetrators of this barbaric act,” she said, referring to the PKK.
Turkey regularly carries out air strikes in northern Iraq and has sent commandos to support its attacks as part of a long-running campaign in Iraq and Syria against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG). Ankara regards both as terrorist groups.
The PKK took up arms against the Turkish state in 1984.
More than 40,000 people have been killed in the conflict, which in the past was mainly centered in southeast Turkey, where the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) sought to establish an ethnic homeland.