Turkey denial of Duhok’s shelling is a "black joke", and we requested a special session of the UN Security Council: Iraqi Foreign Ministry

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The spokesman for the Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ahmed Al-Sahaf, described the Turkish side's denial of responsibility for the attack in Duhok as a ‘lack joke’ that Iraqi diplomacy does not accept.

Al-Sahaf said in an interview with Kurdistan 24 "the ministry is now taking the maximum possible procedural rules within the diplomatic framework, and we issued a statement yesterday condemning the attack in the strongest terms, and today we handed the Turkish ambassador, Ali Riza Güney, a strongly worded protest note."

He added, "today, Iraq's permanent representation was approached in New York, and it will be possible to request the Security Council to hold an emergency session to discuss the Turkish aggression and to issue a resolution that guarantees Iraq's safety and security. "

Al-Sahaf added, "the latest attack is the most serious in a series of Turkish attacks in Iraq, and it does not have any coordination with the Iraqi government, and Ankara claims that it is pursuing groups and individuals affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) to neutralize them."

Al-Sahaf also stressed on the necessity of a special coordination between the Federal Government and Kurdistan Regional Government to protect the border areas, and “we need an agreement similar to Sinjar (Shingal) security agreement and dispatch joint forces in the borderline to prevent the infiltration of any armed groups.”

He pointed out that "what Turkey says that there is an agreement that allows it to penetrate Iraq is incorrect, as there is only a record of a meeting that Ankara concluded with the previous regime and the record, however, obliges it to request the permission of the Iraqi government and that the incursion does not exceed 5 km, and they did not abide by it."

On what the Turkish side mentioned about its lack of responsibility for the attack, Al-Sahaf said, "the Iraqi state's narrative confirms that Ankara is behind the attack, which is not the first and comes in a series of continuous attacks. Turkey's denial of irresponsibility is a black joke that Iraqi diplomacy will not accept."

With regard to the course of the investigation, he explained that "the investigation committee is headed by Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein, under the guidance of the Prime Minister, and it is a national effort, and if the Turkish side wants a joint commission to investigate, we are seeking that, and all indications confirm that the Turkish side is responsible for the attack.”

Regarding the demands to expel the Turkish ambassador, Al-Sahaf said, “Baghdad asked the Iraqi Chargé d’Affairs in Ankara to return to the country and today we handed the Turkish ambassador a strongly worded protest note and he was informed of the Iraqi positions and the measures that will be taken.”