Türkiye 'ready' to do its part in unearthing the facts behind Duhok attack - UN Envoy

The UN special envoy for Iraq said late Tuesday that Türkiye is ready to do its part in unearthing the facts behind an attack last week in Iraq's Duhok province that killed nine civilians.

In her statement to the UN Security Council, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert provided an update on the recent tragic events in Zakho District which also left 33 wounded.

"In my conversation with Iraq's Prime Minister (Mustafa al-Kadhimi) yesterday, he once again emphasized the importance of a transparent and thorough investigation: independent or jointly," she said, adding the Iraqi premier wants an end to "speculations, denials, misunderstandings and rising tensions."

"Meanwhile, I do understand that Türkiye is also ready to address the issue jointly, with Iraq, in order to determine exactly what happened," she said.

The government of Iraq attributed the tragic events to the Turkish Armed Forces, she said but stressed that the Turkish Foreign Ministry issued a press release stating that "Türkiye is against all kinds of attacks targeting civilians," and that it "is ready to take all steps to reveal the truth," inviting "Iraqi government officials not to make statements under the influence of the rhetoric and propaganda of the treacherous (PKK) terrorist organization and to cooperate in bringing the real perpetrators of this tragic incident into the light."

The next day, on social media, the Turkish Embassy in Baghdad said "we join our condolences for our Iraqi brothers who were martyred at the hands of the terrorist organization PKK," she recalled.

On last Wednesday's deadly attack, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said this "once again showed us" the true colours of the PKK terror group.

Turkish security sources denied reports "in support of the terrorist group PKK" blaming the attack on shelling by Turkish forces. Türkiye said it did not carry out any attack against civilians in northern Iraq.

Erdoğan added that "this is one of the normal moves of terrorist groups up to now," saying the attack was meant to "disrupt positive developments between Türkiye and Iraq."