Turkey’s attack on a Kurdish resort in northern Iraq is leading to a quick diplomatic backlash, with the Iraqi government demanding an immediate apology and a complete withdrawal of Turkish forces from Iraqi soil.
Turkey fired artillery at the resort, killing nine civilians and wounding 22 others. There was no indication of any military target in the area that the attacks might have been intended to hit.
This marks the first time in the current Turkish campaign that Iraq has demanded a pullout. In the past, Iraq did so with little effect, but seemed to be at least semi-supportive in this current offensive.
Turkey denied the strike, but President Erdogan was defiant against the suggestion of leaving, and accused the US of training Kurds to commit terrorist attacks against Turkey, insisting Turkey “won’t be fooled.”
Turkey has been attacking Kurds in Iraq and Syria for decades, under the pretext of anti-terror operations. They’ve resisted the idea of ever dialing back the strikes or working with the countries they are raiding.
The US largely doesn’t complain about the Turkish strikes, but Erdogan tends to blame the US for the worst problems, noting that the US tends to be at least somewhat aligned with the Kurds.
Good luck with that…!
Who did Turkey think was at that “Kurdish resort” at the time of the strike?
If it was even one Kurdish leader, then the strike was “justified” by the standards and practice of the US, over long years of US strikes again and again.
It says much to me that nobody says who was the target. Was it a miss, or did they get someone they wanted?