ANKARA (Xinhua) – Turkey’s Foreign Ministry has summoned the charge d’affaires of the Iraqi embassy to defend a fresh cross-border incursion by Turkish forces into northern Iraq.
The ministry expressed its “discomfort over the baseless allegations” by the Iraqi authorities against Turkey’s invasion that targeted the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesperson Tanju Bilgic said in a statement.
The Turkish move came after Iraqi Foreign Ministry on Tuesday summoned the Turkish ambassador in protest over Turkey’s launching a cross-border offensive in northern Iraq a day earlier. Iraq slammed the Turkish operation as a violation of its sovereignty.
Bilgic said Ankara prefers that the Iraqi authorities eliminate the PKK, and is ready for cooperation in this regard. The PKK, which has been rebelling against the Turkish government for more than three decades, is listed as a “terrorist” organization by Turkey.
As long as the Iraqi authorities do not take concrete and effective steps in this direction and the PKK continues to pose threat to Turkey from Iraqi territories, Turkey will continue to take the necessary measures on the basis of the right of self-defense arising from Article 51 of the UN Charter, Bilgic said.
Turkey regularly conducts cross-border offensive on PKK bases in northern Iraq, despite Iraq’s repeated condemnation of Turkey’s violation of its sovereignty.
The Arab League has also condemned the Turkish military incursion, saying it constitutes “unacceptable and deplorable” violation of Iraq’s sovereignty and international law.
The military operations on Iraqi soil increased tension between Turkey and Iraq, said a statement by the pan-Arab body, calling on Ankara to stop such practices and respect the Iraqi sovereignty.