Iraq summons Turkish envoy over visit during PKK operations

Baghdad says it gave the diplomat a ‘protest note’ over the defence minister’s visit to a Turkish base in northern Iraq.

Iraq summoned Turkey’s envoy in Baghdad to protest the visit by its defence chief to a military base in northern Iraq as Turkish troops continue a cross-border offensive against Kurdish fighters there. The Iraqi foreign ministry said in a statement on Monday it handed the Turkish charge d’affaires “a protest note” over “violations of Iraqi sovereignty” by defence minister Hulusi Akar’s trip to the Turkish facility. Akar visited the Turkish base in northern Iraq on Saturday – accompanied by Chief of the General Staff General Yasar Guler and Turkish Land Forces Commander Umit Dundar – to supervise military operations against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) armed group.