Iraq president slams Turkish bombardment of Kurdish region

Iraqi President Abdel Latif Rashid condemned Turkey on Saturday for bombarding an area near Sulaimaniyah airport in the autonomous Kurdish region, a flashpoint between the two governments.

“Turkish military operations against the Kurdistan region continue to take place, the last being the bombardment (Friday) against Sulaimaniyah civilian airport,” Rashid said in a statement.

Rashid, who is himself a Kurd from Sulaimaniyah, said such actions by Turkish forces have “no legal justification” and serve only to “terrorise civilians under the pretext that hostile forces are present in Iraq”.

He was referring to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) which has a presence in Iraq’s Kurdistan region and is blacklisted as a “terrorist” organisation by Turkey and its allies.

Turkey has repeatedly sought to remove the rebel group in air and ground operations.

On Monday, Turkey halted flights to and from Sulaimaniyah until at least July 3, blaming increased PKK activity in and around the airport.

The Turkish foreign ministry said at the time that PKK activities were posing a “threat” to air security.

In early March, a Turkish drone strike in northern Iraq killed two Yazidi fighters affiliated with the PKK, days after a similar strike killed three other fighters.

The PKK has waged an insurgency in Turkey that has claimed tens of thousands of lives since 1984.