Turkey’s invasion of Iraq is “a violation of its sovereignty and the sanctity of the country” that goes against the concept of being a good neighbor, Baghdad’s foreign ministry said in a statement on Monday. Ankara launched a new military campaign against Kurdish forces in the north of the Middle Eastern state on Sunday evening.
Baghdad said it denounced the Turkish military operation waged on its territory. Iraq does not and will not serve as a staging ground for attacks on neighboring countries [there is also a large Kurdish enclave in Syria] and should not become “an arena for conflicts and settling scores for other external parties,” the statement said.
Turkey’s Operation Claw-Lock targets Kurdish militias in the northern Iraqi regions of Metina, Zap, and Avasin-Basyan, according to the Turkish military. Ankara perceives them as allies of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).