Mevlut Cavusoglu, the FM of Turkey, claims that rumors attributing responsibility for the incident to Turkey were PKK attempts to obstruct Ankara’s counterterrorism efforts.
The Turkish Foreign Minister has refuted claims that Turkey carried out assaults in the Iraqi province of Duhok, where a strike on Wednesday left 23 people injured and eight dead.
Mevlut Cavusoglu warned on Thursday that the Iraqi government should not fall for a “trap.”
Turkey has denied charges made by Iraqi authorities and state media on Wednesday that it had attacked a mountain resort in the country’s northern Duhok province.
According to district mayor Mushir Mohammed, at least four missiles struck the resort town of Barakh in the Zakho district of northern Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region. Iraqi residents made up the entire death toll.
In response to the attack, Iraq summoned Ankara’s ambassador to Baghdad, and according to its state news agency, the government will summons its charge d’affaires in Ankara back.
Additionally, Mustafa al-Kadhimi, the prime minister of Iraq, designated Thursday a day of national mourning. He launched a probe into the incident and sent a delegation there, led by Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein.
Three men, three women, and two kids were among that slain, Zakho health administrator Amir Ali told reporters.
According to Cavusoglu, the PKK, an outlawed organization, has always been the target of Turkish military operations in Iraq. He also claimed that the attack on Duhok was carried out by what he called “terrorists.”
‘Nothing but Terrorists’
As part of a long-running campaign in Iraq and Syria against Kurdish PKK and Kurdish Syrian YPG militants, Turkey frequently launches airstrikes in northern Iraq and has dispatched commandos to support its offensives. Both are viewed as terrorist organizations in Ankara.
Reports accusing Turkey of the incident, according to Cavusoglu, are PKK attempts to obstruct Ankara’s counterterrorism efforts.
The Turkish military has informed his ministry that no such strike had been carried out by Turkey, Cavusoglu said, adding that “the entire world knows we would never carry out an attack on civilians.”
“We are prepared to speak with Iraqi officials following this attack, which we believe the [PKK] terrorist organization carried out. We can work together to remove the fog curtain. It is wrong to hold Turkey responsible until that is changed, he said.
Operation Claw-Lock, part of a series of cross-border operations Turkey began in 2019 to fight the PKK, which is based in the mountainous regions of northern Iraq, was initiated in April in some sections of that country.
In 1984, the PKK started using force against the Turkish government. The struggle, which in the past was primarily concentrated in southeast Turkey where the PKK attempted to establish an ethnic homeland, has claimed more than 40,000 lives.
‘Investigation against the Turks’
To protest the incident, dozens of Iraqis gathered outside the Turkish embassy in Baghdad on Wednesday. The top UN representative in Iraq also denounced it and demanded an investigation.
Despite protests outside the embassy and other Turkish offices, according to Cavusoglu, there have been no complaints of property damage or casualties.
