ISTANBUL, Turkey — In a meeting with Kurdish Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan “expressed his condolences for the Peshmerga fighters killed,” reiterating that there was no intention to hit Peshmerga in Tuesday's deadly bombings in Shingal. The two leaders also discussed strengthening bilateral relations, according to a statement from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).
“Erdogan first expressed his condolences for the Peshmerga fighters killed, and showed regret for the ones injured in Turkey’s bombing of PKK positions on Mount Shingal,” the KRG statement on Friday read.
Five Peshmerga were killed in the initial attack, and another later died of his injuries. Nine Peshmerga were initially reported to be injured.
Erdogan “expressed his sadness” at the incident, the KRG statement read.
“He (Erdogan) has expressed his country’s readiness to treat the injured of the attack. He had reiterated that the bombing in no way was intended to hit Peshmerga headquarters, stressing that the bombing on Peshmerga positions was a mistake,” read the KRG statement.
Barzani “expressed his concerns about the recent incident that happened in Shingal,” per the statement.
“He also had urged that these types of incidents do not repeat,” read the KRG statement. “He had also expressed his wish that the PKK leaves this region.”
The Turkish and Kurdish governments have shared the position that any Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) presence in Shingal is unacceptable.
“He (Erdogan) has called for concerted efforts from all parties to ensure that there are no PKK headquarters there,” the KRG statement read, adding that Erdogan appreciates the “security situations” of the Kurdistan Region.
Their meeting at Mabain Palace in Istanbul lasted 45 minutes, according to the Turkish Anadolu Agency.
Erdogan and Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim both called Kurdish President Masoud Barzani on Wednesday to express their condolences over the bombing in Shingal.
“They expressed their sadness to President Masoud Barzani over the martyrdom of six Peshmerga and injuring eight who were martyred and injured from the attacks of Turkish fighter jets in against Shingal,” the statement from the Kurdish presidency read, referring to Erdogan and Yildirim.
"They emphasized that the incident was not intentional at all, and that it happened because of mistake by the fighter jets,” it added.
Prime Minister Barzani was in Istanbul for the Atlantic Council Summit 2017.
Among the topics of the summit were economy, energy, and regional security issues, and additionally, strategic projects like transporting energy through Turkey to the Atlantic.
Kurdistan has expressed its interest in exporting natural gas to Europe through this project, Rudaw has learned.
“[PM] Barzani expressed the readiness of the KRG to develop relations with Turkey in all aspects.”
He also talked about the importance of Peshmerga soldiers in the fight against the ISIS group “stressing that the assistance has been instrumental in uprooting terror in the region,” the statement read.
Regarding ongoing disputes between Erbil and Baghdad, Barzani “reiterated the importance of having serious dialogue to settle outstanding problems,” the KRG statement added.
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