SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Turkey and Iran have summoned each other’s ambassadors over remarks made by the Iranian ambassador to Iraq about Turkish operation in Iraq as well as Turkish interior minister’s comments on the presence of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in Iran.
The Turkish foreign ministry summoned ambassador Mohammad Farazmand after the Iranian ambassador to Iraq made comments about Turkey’s offensive in northern Iraq, Anadolu reported.
The foreign ministry said it had told Farazmand that it expected Iran to support, not oppose, Turkey’s operation against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
Iranian ambassador in Baghdad Iraj Masjedi said in a televised interview that Turkey should withdraw troops from Iraq and halt military operations in the country.
Turkey’s ambassador to Iraq also denounced the comments in a Twitter post on Saturday.
“Ambassador of Iran would be the last person to lecture Turkey about respecting borders of Iraq,” Fatih Yildiz said in a tweet.
Turkey launched a four-day operation dubbed “Claw-Eagle 2” against the PKK in the Kurdistan Region’s Gara mountain on February 10.
Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs also summoned Turkish Ambassador in Tehran Derya Ors over remarks made by Turkey’s interior minister about the presence of the PKK fighters in Iran.
“The Turkish minister’s remarks were criticized and called inadmissible,” Iran’s state news agency IRNA said.
