Hundreds protest following a fatal attack on tourist resort in Baghdad

After a strike in northern Iraq that left nine people dead, including a newlywed spouse and a 1-year-old, and which Iraq blamed on Turkish soldiers but which Ankara denied carrying out, hundreds of protesters demonstrated in Baghdad on Thursday.

 

The incident occurred on Wednesday at a summer resort close to the northern Iraqi town of Zakho, which is near the Turkish border. Turkish forces have been waging a campaign against PKK militants in this area.

 

Turkey has been blamed by Iraq for the killings, although no proof has been shown. Ankara claimed there had been no attacks on local populations and that it was willing to speak with Iraq to ascertain the truth.

 

All indications point to Turkey as the attacker, and their denial is a ‘dark comedy,’ according to a statement from the Iraqi Foreign Ministry.

 

Without providing any other details, the ministry stated that ‘there is a chance that Iraq would play the economic card.’

 

Around 500 people gathered near the Turkish Embassy in Baghdad, and there were skirmishes between police and demonstrators for a brief period of time.

 

Haider al-Tamimi, a demonstrator, charged officials in federal Iraq and the independent Kurdish-led region where the incident occurred of failing to adequately condemn the bloodshed.

 

In response to the attack, Iraq has recalled Ankara’s ambassador to Baghdad, and according to a state-run news outlet, the government will also recall its charge d’affaires in Ankara.

 

Senior Iraqi government officials, including Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi, attended ceremonies marking the delivery of the victims’ bodies to the capital on Thursday.

 

The fatalities were ‘martyrs from the cruel Turkish strike which targeted civilians,’ according to Kadhimi’s office.

 

Turkish military actions in Iraq have always been directed against the PKK, which the US and the EU both consider a terrorist organisation, according to Mevlut Cavusoglu, the country’s foreign minister, who made the statement on Thursday. He said that what he called terrorists were responsible for the attack.