Iran condemns Turkish air raid in Iraq’s Sinjar

EghtesadOnline: The Iranian Foreign Ministry has censured Turkey’s air raid in northern Iraq, saying any violation of countries’ national sovereignty will lead to instability in the region.

News ID: ۷۴۱۲۰۸

27 April 2017

“Violating the national sovereignty of other countries with any purpose or under any pretext is an infringement of internationally recognized rules and regulations and will pave the way for further instability in the region,” Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qassemi said on Wednesday.

Qassemi said Turkey’s air raid in Iraq’s Sinjar region was a breach of the Arab country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, PressTV reported.

On Tuesday, a Turkish military statement said it had carried out pre-dawn strikes on Sinjar Mountain, adding that the raids were meant to hit the positions of the Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK) in Sinjar area.

The PKK has established a presence in Sinjar, where Kurdish Peshmerga fighters battling the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group are also present.

Ankara has long claimed that the area was becoming a hotbed for the PKK.

Sinjar Mayor Mahma Khalil said the strikes had killed five members of Peshmerga fighters and wounded nine.

The statement said that Turkish planes had also hit northeastern Syria on Tuesday.

In a statement on Tuesday, the Iraqi government spokesman, Saad al-Hadithi, condemned Turkey for violating Iraq’s sovereignty.

Turkey, which has declared the PKK a terrorist group, regularly bombs the positions of the PKK in Iraq and Syria. Ankara has also deployed troops to the two countries.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has defended Ankara's recent deadly airstrikes, vowing that his country would continue its military operations both in Iraq and Syria "until the last terrorist is eliminated."

Iraq has repeatedly warned Turkey against violating its sovereignty.