SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Turkey respects the borders and sovereignty of Iraq, said the Turkish defense minister, as Ankara continues its operation against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in northern Iraq.
“We respect the borders and sovereignty of all our neighbors, especially our friendly and brotherly Iraq,” Hulusi Akar said at the Golcuk Naval Command where he visited Turkish troops on Tuesday.
His comments came after Iraq summoned a Turkish diplomat on Monday in protest against Akar’s visit to a military base in Duhok province.
Akar, accompanied by several military commanders, paid a visit to Turkey’s Bilic Tepe Base in the Kurdistan Region’s province of Duhok on Saturday evening, according to the Turkish ministry of defense.
Iraqi foreign ministry’s senior undersecretary Nizar al-Khairallah handed the Turkish diplomat a protest note expressing the Iraqi government’s “strong dissatisfaction and condemnation of the presence of Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar in Iraqi lands without coordination or prior approval from authorities”, the statement read.
The Iraqi government’s note also denounced Akar’s meeting with Turkish forces that it says are in the country illegally, the statement said.
Turkey has set up dozens of military bases in Duhok, according to Kurdish officials.
It set up three new military points in Amedi district on April 24 amid operations against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
The Turkish military launched a new ground and air defensive against the PKK in Duhok on April 23. Turkish media reported that commando forces landed in the Metina region from helicopters.
Besides troop deployment, Turkish warplanes continue to bomb areas where suspected PKK positions are thought to be presence.
“We will continue to do whatever needs to be done to end this terror, which is nesting in the north of Iraq … We do not have any other purpose in northern Iraq,” Akar said.
He further said up to 68 PKK fighters had been “neutralized” during the operations.
Turkey regularly carries out air and ground attacks against the PKK in northern Iraq. It says neither the Iraqi government nor the Kurdish government has taken measures to combat the group.
On Tuesday, Iraqi border guard forces set up four military bases in the Kurdistan Region’s province of Duhok to prevent Turkish forces from advancing deeper into Iraqi territory.
“More military bases will be established in the near future to prevent the Turkish army from further advancing into Iraqi territory and to reduce clashes between Turkey and the PKK,” a source in the Iraqi Border Guard Forces told Esta Media Network.
