Kurdish MP: Powerful party in Baghdad refuses to solve issues with Turkey peacefully

BAGHDAD – A Kurdish Member of the Iraqi Parliament, Shakhawan Abdullah stated on Saturday that there are some parties in Baghdad that want to solve the tensions between Iraq – Turkey undiplomatically.

On Saturday, Abdullah told Kurdistan24 TV that in Baghdad, the most powerful side is the one that wants to resolve disagreements between Iraq–Turkey through violence rather than diplomatically.

Last week, Turkish troops have been deployed to Bashiqa, a small Yezidi-Christian town in northern Iraq. While Turkey claims that the troops are there to train Sunni tribesmen in the build-up to liberating in the liberation of Mosul from the Islamic State (IS), Iraqi officials in Baghdad have called it "an invasion" of the country.

"Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar Abadi believes in diplomacy and wants to solve the issue by taking legal actions,” Abdullah offered , "while the government is taking legal actions, other powerful people and parties are arranging demonstrations so Abadi cannot address the issue [of Turkish troops stationed in Iraq] diplomatically.”

Abdullah also mentioned there is the "third party" that works outside of the Iraqi government and outside of the country that seeks to change the direction of solving the controversial issue from "diplomacy" to a "violent way."

On Saturday, hundreds of people in Baghdad demonstrated against the deployment of Turkish troops in northern Iraq. Iraqi security immediately took stricter measures around the Turkish embassy to protect the area from any violent actions that might take place by the demonstrators.