Top Iraqi politician says Turkish attacks could harm Baghdad, Ankara ties

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Violation of Iraq’s sovereignty by any state is rejected and the continuous Turkish incursions in the Kurdistan Region will harm relations between Baghdad and Ankara, influential Iraqi politician and former prime minister Nouri al-Maliki said on Thursday.

“The violation of Iraq’s sovereignty from any state is rejected and the government needs to take necessary measures to stop it,” Maliki who is a prominent figure of the Coordination Framework, Iraq’s largest Iran-backed alliance, said in a statement.

“The continuation of Turkish incursions on Iraqi land in the Kurdistan Region and the death and injury of a number of people will result in major harm to the relations between Iraq and Turkey,” he said, adding that such continuous attacks would require Iraq to review its stance and work on stopping them.

Maliki’s statement came after a suspected Turkish drone on Wednesday targeted the headquarters of a militia group affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in Shingal, causing injuries and civilian casualties.

At least two people were reported dead, among them was a 12-year-old child.

His remarks also come as Turkey’s operation against the PKK in the border areas of the Kurdistan Region has continued for two months now.

Turkey launched its latest assault, dubbed Operation Claw-Clock on April 18 to eradicate the PKK threat, with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warning that “soon there will not be a place called Qandil,” referring to the mountain where the PKK headquarters is based. 

Maliki in late April said Turkey had eyes on certain Iraqi territories which it aims to regain control of through its military operations in the Region. 

Ankara has used its air power including its deadly drone fleet in recent years at a devastating level, killing some of the most senior figures within the PKK. But dozens of Iraqi-Kurdish civilians have also been killed or wounded in Turkish airstrikes in recent years.

Ankara launched Operation Claw against the PKK in Khakurk in May 2019. This was followed by Operation Claw-Tiger in June 2020. The third edition of the offensive was ground and air cross-border operation, dubbed Operation Claw-Lightning and Operation Claw-Thunderbolt, launched in April 2021. All of these operations focused on the PKK’s positions in the Kurdistan Region’s Duhok province.

However, Maliki’s statement does not address its ally Iran’s interference in the country.

Almost all political players in the Iraqi scene have been around since the toppling of the Saddam Hussein regime in 2003, and have haggled with one another on numerous occasions. Their failure to reach an understanding over how to share power has made them vulnerable to even greater interference from Iran, Turkey, and the Gulf States, as well as the United States.

Several major militias operating in the country are backed by Tehran and often attack US and western bases in the country, the latest of them taking place last week.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Saeed Khatibzadeh on Monday refused to respond to a question during his weekly press conference on Monday about Tehran’s involvement in last week’s drone attack on Erbil, which injured three civilians.

Khatibzadeh responded to a series of questions from several reporters regarding the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) missile attack on Erbil in March, as well as last week’s drone attack. “No comment,” he said before adding that wherever the source of a threat to Iran is, Tehran would not hesitate to neutralize it.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein in an interview aired on Sunday said that Iraq has established a different tone while talking to Iran, one that has not existed before, deeming Iranian interference in the country as “unacceptable”. 

“These problems regarding Iranian interference whether political or otherwise, we have started talking with the Iranian side differently,” Hussein said, adding that “Tehran has started to hear a different language from Baghdad, one that did not exist before.”