Pro-Kurdish HDP party blames Turkey for Zakho tragedy

"Bombing civilian settlements is a crime against humanity and a war crime."

Wladimir van Wilgenburg 2022/07/21 14:43

Ambulances near the site in Zakho where a Turkish artillery strike killed several people (Photo: AFP)

Turkey HDP Zakho Mevlut Cavusoglu Mustafa al-Kadhimi Masrour Barzani Parakhe village

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) blamed Turkey for Wednesday's killing of nine civilians in Zakho.

The HDP's Central Executive Board said the Turkish government "is politically and legally responsible for this massacre, which will go down in history as the second Roboski massacre. This massacre also means an attack on the sovereignty of another country."

On December 28, 2011, the Turkish air force killed 34 villagers who were smuggling goods from the Kurdistan Region to their villages of Roboski and Becuh.

"Bombing civilian settlements is a crime against humanity and a war crime. We underlined that Turkey is a signatory of international conventions that prohibit crimes against humanity and war crimes," the HDP said.

Moreover, the HDP requested the President of the Assembly to immediately call for an emergency meeting in the Turkish parliament.

However, the Turkish government denies responsibility for the tragedy in Zakho.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Thursday said that Turkey did not carry out any attack on civilians, the Turkish state news agency TRT World reported.

Moreover, he claimed that the Turkish operations are only against the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

"The attack believed to be by terrorists. Iraqi authorities must not fall for trap by terrorist organisations," he said.

Also, the Turkish embassy in Baghdad blamed the PKK for the death of Iraqi tourists in a tweet.

Despite this, the Iraqi government has blamed Turkey for the attack and called on Turkey to stop "violations" and "respect Iraq's territorial sovereignty and its people's safety."

Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi on Wednesday called for an official Turkish apology and called on Turkey to withdraw its forces from Iraq.

Since Wednesday, there have been protests in Iraq against Turkish diplomatic missions and visa centers. Moreover, there have been calls to boycott Turkish products and tourism.

Turkish artillery fire on the Parakhe village in the Duhok province led to the loss of lives of nine local Iraqi tourists, injuring two dozen more, officials told Kurdistan 24 on Wednesday.

"I'm appalled by the reckless artillery attack on a summer resort in Zakho today which resulted in civilians' casualties, and condemn it in the strongest terms," Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani said on Wednesday.

Several countries, diplomatic missions, and the UN have condemned the incident, including the UK, US, and Germany.