The Turkish Foreign Ministry said it “rejected” statements made by Iraj Masjedi, Iranian ambassador to Iraq, stating that Turkey must withdraw its forces from the Kurdistan Region and respect Iraq’s sovereignty and international borders, Anadolu Agency reported.
Ankara told the Iranian diplomat that it expects support, not opposition in its fight against terrorism.
In a Tuesday interview with Rudaw published Saturday, Masjedi was asked about Turkey’s cross border military operations against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). “We reject military intervention in Iraq and Turkish forces should not pose a threat or violate Iraqi soil,” he answered.
Regarding Turkish threats of an offensive against alleged PKK positions in Shingal (Sinjar), Masjedi said, “What has Sinjar got to do with Turkey? This is an internal matter and the Iraqis themselves must resolve this issue.”
A diplomatic spat has broken out between Ankara and Tehran over remarks made to Rudaw by Iran's Ambassador to Iraq Iraj Masjedi who called on Turkey to withdraw its forces from Iraqi soil.
— Rudaw English (@RudawEnglish) February 28, 2021
Watch Masjedi's full comments here: pic.twitter.com/cRRLKPjPl1
Shortly after the interview was published, Turkey’s Ambassador to Iraq Fatih Yildiz hit back on Twitter, saying the Iranian diplomat “would be the last person to lecture Turkey about respecting borders of Iraq.”
After Ankara summoned Iran’s ambassador on Sunday, in a retaliatory move Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned Turkey’s envoy to Tehran Derya Ors to protest “unjustified” remarks by Ankara, IRNA reported. In their meeting, the Iranians brought up comments from Turkey’s ambassador and “unacceptable” allegations from Turkey’s interior minister that the PKK has a presence in Iran, without providing further detail.
The PKK is an armed group claiming to fight for greater cultural and political rights for Kurds in Turkey. Turkish forces frequently pursue the group’s guerrillas across the border, into the Kurdistan Region where the PKK has bases. In large-scale air and ground campaigns, Turkey’s armed forces have set up military outposts deep inside the Kurdistan Region. Scores of Kurdish civilians have died over the years as a result of Turkish military operations and bombardments. Baghdad has lodged formal protests on a number of occasions about Turkey’s violations of its territory, but to no avail.
Turkey has threatened that its next operation would be in Shingal against an armed Yazidi group established with the help of the PKK in the wake of the genocidal attack of the Islamic State group (ISIS) in August 2014.
Earlier this month, three brigades of the Iraq’s Iran-backed Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) deployed to the Shingal area to deter a Turkish attack.
Shiite militias loyal to Iran have a presence in both Iraq and Syria and frequently traverse the border, fighting remnants of ISIS and establishing a footprint, by extension for Iran, in these two countries that Tehran considers strategically important.
Iran is encouraging the PMF to establish a presence in Shingal, according to Nussaibah Younis, a visiting fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations and expert on Iraq. “It is keen for them to maintain their dominance of Sinjar because of the strategic importance of the area as a point of access to Syria,” she wrote on February 24.
