The shelling of a tourist resort in Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region, which left nine dead and dozens injured on Wednesday, has sparked a escalating crisis with Turkey. Video footage shows a summer idyll being shattered by smashing artillery. Tourists run screaming through a park near the city of Zakho. Iraqi Prime Minister Kadimi blames Turkey for the shelling that killed women and children.
The anger in Iraq is great. The Iraqi Security Council demands the withdrawal of the Turkish army, which has dozens of military bases in northern Iraq for the fight against the Kurdish terrorist group PKK. Shia leader Muqtada Sadr called for the suspension of diplomatic relations with Turkey. Protests broke out Wednesday evening at the former Turkish embassy in Baghdad, where the Turkish flag was down, and at Turkish institutions in other Iraqi cities.
Turkey launched a major military offensive against the PKK in the mountains of northern Iraq in April, with the tacit approval of Kurdish President Barzani. There is fierce fighting. But Iraqi civilian casualties are generally rare. Yet a fatal incident seemed a matter of time. Because despite the fact that the region around Zakho was a war zone, Iraqi travel agents were still allowed to take tourists to waterfalls and other places of interest.
Rhetoric and propaganda
Turkey denies responsibility for the attack, expresses its condolences to the families of the victims, and blames the PKK. “We invite Iraqi officials to work together to uncover the real perpetrators of this tragic incident,” the Turkish Foreign Ministry said. Turkey also asks the Iraqi government not to make any statements about an attack “influenced by rhetoric and propaganda” by the PKK.
But the anger in Baghdad is too great for that. The Iraqi government was already less happy with the cross-border action of the Turkish army than Barzani, an ally of President Erdogan. Baghdad sees the presence of Turkish military bases as a violation of its sovereignty and fears a creeping annexation of its territory. Still, it remains to be seen whether the Security Council will push for the withdrawal of Turkish troops, and what it will do if Turkey refuses to comply.
Several western countries, including the Netherlands, have condemned the attack
The height of the incident was revealed on Thursday at Erbil International Airport, where the bodies of the victims were received by senior government leaders. The President of the Kurdish Autonomous Region, Nechirvan Barzani, and Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein carried the coffin of 1-year-old Zahra, the youngest victim of the shelling. The Iraqi parliament will meet in an extraordinary session on Saturday to discuss next steps.
Several Western countries, including Germany, the United States, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, have condemned the attack and expressed their condolences to the victims. But none of them immediately held the Turkish army responsible for the attack. “This type of attack should never happen,” tweeted the Dutch consulate in the northern Iraqi city of Erbil. The German Foreign Ministry called for an early investigation into the circumstances.