The Iraqi government has demanded a formal apology from Turkey, claiming the country had shelled a tourist resort in the Kurdistan region of northern Iraq this week.
Turkey denied the claim, and blamed ‘terrorists’ for the attack.
The shelling reportedly killed nine people, including children, and according to the Iraqi government was the result of a ‘cross-border raid’ by Turkish troops operating against Kurdish separatists in eastern Turkey and north-eastern Syria.
The shelling was condemned by both the semi-autonomous Kurdish regional government and the Iraqi central government as a ‘flagrant violation’ of sovereignty. Iraq asserted that it had the ‘right to retaliate’. Tehran has since withdrawn its chargé d’affaires in Ankara.
Iraq on Friday said that it would be taking the matter to the United Nations Security Council.
[Image: https://pixabay.com/photos/kurdistan-flag-rojava-kobani-how-4721598/]