Erdogan tells PM Barzani Peshmerga mistakenly bombed in Shingal
The Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Region Nechirvan Barzani on Friday met with the President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul to discuss the Turkish bombing on Shingal Mountain.
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) – The Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Region Nechirvan Barzani on Friday met with the President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul to discuss the Turkish bombing on Shingal Mountain.
PM Barzani’s meeting with the Turkish President followed his participation at the Atlantic Council summit in Istanbul.
Erdogan expressed his condolences to the families of the martyred Peshmerga soldiers who were targeted by Turkish airstrikes on Mount Shingal, according to the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) media office.
He mentioned the target of the airstrikes was the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) base on the mountain.
Erdogan stated Turkey is ready to embrace the wounded Peshmerga for medical treatment.
On Tuesday, Turkish warplanes shelled PKK-affiliate groups on Mount Shingal in the Kurdistan Region as well as Derik town and Qarachokh Mountain in northeastern Syrian Kurdistan (Rojava).
The airstrikes killed six Peshmerga and injured nine more as well as killing and wounding 38 People’s Protection Units (YPG) fighters in Rojava.
During the meeting, Erdogan emphasized Peshmerga were not the target of the Turkish bombing, and the casualties were a mistake, expressing concern about the incident.
The Turkish President also stated the PKK’s presence on Mount Shingal is unacceptable and asked for support to evacuate the Kurdish fighters from the area, according to the KRG statement.
PM Barzani expressed concern over the bombing of Peshmerga and asked that similar attacks were not repeated.
The Kurdish PM agreed the PKK should withdraw from the Shingal area.
In another part of the meeting, both sides discussed fostering the bilateral relations between Turkey and the Kurdistan Region.
Moreover, the Mosul military operation, Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the Kurdistan Region, resolving issues between Erbil and Baghdad, and the current situation in the region were also discussed.
Editing by Karzan Sulaivany