Turkey made a fierce verbal attack at the Iraqi government for criticising Ankara for intervention in Iraqi affairs after Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu visited an oil-rich Iraqi city arrogated by both the central government and the country’s autonomous Kurdistan region without conferring to the Iraqi authorities first.
Turkish Foreign Ministry summonsed Iraq’s Ambassador in Ankara to protest Baghdad’s consequent affirmations after Davutoğlu’s visit to the contested city. Sources stated the statements that Iraq made after Turkish foreign minister’s Kirkuk visit are “unaccepted.”
Turkish Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Feridun Sinirlioğlu told the Iraqi envoy that Turkey is taking every step in an open way and that it has no buried agenda. Sinirlioğlu warned Iraqi authorities to be measured while making statements.
Turkey’s protest came up after Iraq delivered a formal diplomatic note to Turkey’s envoy in Baghdad on Friday.
The episode, the latest in a serial of diplomatic acclaims and tit-for-tat evocations of envoys between the neighboring nations, is probably to aggravate already strained relations.
A junior minister at Iraq’s foreign ministry had handed Turkey’s charge d’affaires a protest letter on Friday, a strongly-worded statement from the foreign ministry said.
“The note also included a demand by the Iraqi government (for an) urgent explanation from the Turkish government,” it added.
