Iraqi forces will prevent attacks on Turkey, PM al-Abadi says
Iraqi Premier Haider al-Abadi has said troops will foil the PKK terrorists to use Iraq for cross-border attacks, reassuring his Turkish counterpart, Binali Yıldırım, in a telephone conversation that he rejected any "violation" against Turkey through Iraqi territory.
- World
- DPA
- Published Date: 12:00 | 27 March 2018
- Modified Date: 12:31 | 27 March 2018
Iraqi forces will prevent any foreign fighters in Iraq from launching attacks on Turkey, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi told his Turkish counterpart Binali Yıldırım.
"We reject any transgression on Turkey," al-Abadi said, according to a statement released by his office. He also stressed that Iraqi forces have full control of the borders.
Turkey's Anadolu news agency reported that Yıldırım and al-Abadi discussed the expectation that Iraq would take the necessary measures against the PKK terror group, which has been waging a terror campaign against Turkish state for more than three decades, in the context of neighbourly relations.
Turkey has been carrying out military operations on the ground in northern Iraq for the past two weeks and says it has "neutralized" dozens of militants linked to the PKK, which has been designated a terrorist organization by Turkey, US and EU.
Sinjar, in north-western Iraq, is mostly inhabited by the country's minority Yezidi religious community, a group that was the target of atrocities by Daesh militants after they seized the town in mid-2014.
Sinjar, known by Kurds as Shengal, was recaptured from Daesh in late 2015.