Rocket fire targets Turkish consulate in Iraq’s Mosul
The overnight fire came ater deadly shelling blamed on the Turkish army killed nine civilians last week, prompting anti-turkish protests in cities across Iraq
Rockets hit the vicinity of the Turkish consulate in Iraq’s main northern city of Mosul causing damage but no casualties, Iraqi and Turkish sources said on Wednesday.
The overnight fire came ater deadly shelling blamed on the Turkish army killed nine civilians last week, prompting anti-turkish protests in cities across Iraq.
Four rockets hit, causing damage to cars parked in the street near the consulate, provincial lawmaker Shirwan Dobardani said.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Turkey, which denied its forces were behind last week’s artillery bombardment and instead blamed the rebel Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), condemned the overnight rocket fire.
“We condemn this atack, in which no casualties were reported, in the strongest terms,” the Turkish foreign ministry said in a statement.
“We firmly request from the Iraqi authorities to fulfill their responsibilities in protecting diplomatic and consular missions.”
The ministry said it was a “grave and noteworthy development that this atack was carried out during the UN Security Council meeting, which was held upon the call of the Iraqi authorities.”
Following last week’s shelling, Baghdad called on the Security Council to pass a resolution demanding that Ankara withdraw its troops from northern Iraq, where it maintains a network of bases as part of its long-running campaign against the PKK.
A dispute between Iraq and Turkey over a recent deadly atack in Iraq’s northern Kurdish region escalated at an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council on Tuesday.
Iraq’s foreign minister demandedthe withdrawal of all Turkish troops from his country, while Turkey’s deputy ambassador said his government will keep pursing fighters it considers terrorists who take refuge in Iraq.
The Iraqi government sought the meeting ater the July 20 artillery atack that killed nine Iraqi tourists and injured 33 other people.
Its foreign minister, Fuad Hussein, said the government has “proofs” that Turkish armed forces were responsible.
Turkey has denied it was behind the atack and blamed fighters from the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, which is considered a terrorist organisation by Ankara and the West.
It has for decades waged an insurgency against the government in Ankara and maintains hideouts in Iraq’s mountainous north.
At the start of the Security Council meeting, the UN special envoy for Iraq had said Turkey and Iraq were ready for a joint investigation into the artillery shelling at the Parkha resort in the Zakho district of the semi-autonomous Kurdish region.
Jeaninehennis-plasschaertsaidiraq’scaretaker prime minister, Mustafa Al Kadhimi, emphasized in a conversation on Monday “the importance of a transparent and thorough investigation: independent or jointly.”
She quoted him as saying it is vital “to put a stop to speculations, denials, misunderstandings and rising tensions.”
The UN envoy said she understood “that Turkey is also ready to address the issue jointly, with Iraq, in order to determine exactly what happened.”
Iraq’s Hussein called on the Security Council to set up “an international independent team of inquiry” to look into what he called the Turkish army’s “flagrant aggression.”
The foreign minister told journalists later that Iraq is also ready to have a joint investigation with Turkey, but he said “they didn’t approach us” and “never sent us an official leter about having an investigation.”
Turkey’s deputy U.N. ambassador, Öncü Keçeli, countered that “we made it clear that Turkey is ready to take all the steps to unveil the truth,” stressing to the council that “our officials at many different levels have given the same message.”
He said some Iraqi authorities were on the same page as Turkey and “wanted to find out the truth.” But other Iraqi officials, he said, “chose escalation instead of diplomacy and co-operation,” and started a media “smear campaign” aimed at driving a wedge between the Turkish and Iraqi people.
Hussein said the Iraqi government is “sure” the Turkish military was responsible for the atack.