Iraq sends Turkey strongly-worded note to protest killing of border guards

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday delivered a strongly-worded note to the Turkish ambassador in Baghdad, Fatih Yildiz, to protest the killing of Iraqi border guards by Turkish airstrikes a day earlier.

According to a statement by the Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it “summoned” Yildiz for the Turkish army’s “continuous violations and abuses,” which include a recent drone strike in the Kurdistan Region’s ​​ Bradost area, located in Erbil province. The attack killed two officers and a soldier from the Iraqi army.

The foreign affairs ministry holds “the Turkish government responsible for this errant attack,” and demands “the Turkish side to hold the perpetrators accountable,” the note added.

A Turkish airstrike on Tuesday killed two Iraqi border guard officers and seriously wounded at least one other in Erbil’s Bradost region, just the latest casualties in Ankara’s operation against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

Read More: Turkish airstrike in Kurdistan Region kills 2 Iraqi border guard commanders

This is the third protest note Iraq has delivered to the Turkish ambassador since June to protest the Turkish bombing and ground incursion into the Kurdistan Region.

Turkey claims it is targeting the PKK, but its military operations have caused human causalities and material losses in the border areas of the region.

The Iraqi ministry said in its statement that Turkey has “to stop the bombing and withdraw its forces from all Iraqi lands,” noting that this was the first instance where Iraqi military personnel were killed.

In an earlier statement on Tuesday, the Iraqi government labeled the attack “a hostile act,” and said it was  “a violation of the sovereignty and sanctity of the country.”

The central government in Baghdad also cancelled the Turkish Minister of Defense’s upcoming visit to Iraq, including all other scheduled visits for Turkish officials.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany