PUK calls on Iraqi government to respond to Turkey ‘urgently’

ERBIL, Kurdistan region - The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan party (PUK) has called the Thursday bombing of the Kuna Masi resort a violation of Iraq’s sovereignty, attributing the unclaimed attack to Turkey, and calling on the Iraq’s presidencies to respond “urgently”.

The PUK bloc in Iraqi parliament issued a statement Friday regarding the airstrike of the Kuna Masi resort in Sharbazhir town in northeastern of Sulaimani province, in which one unidentified fighter was killed and six civilians were injured, according to Shaho Osman, head of Sharbazhir town told Rudaw on Thursday. 

An unknown warplane conducted an airstrike targeted Kuna Masi tourist resort in northeastern Sulaimani province on Thursday killed at least one unidentified fighter, and wounded six civilians. 

“Continuous violation of Turkish warplanes to the Iraqi sovereignty is a clear disrespect to the formal memorandum the Iraqi government handed over to the Turkish ambassador,” the statement reads.

The PUK bloc also called on the Iraqi Foreign Ministry and the Iraqi representative to the United Nations Security Council to request the convening of an emergency Security Council session to suspend the Turkish military operations inside Iraqi territory and issue a resolution to compensate the families of civilians who have been killed by the military operation.

“A legal committee needs to be set up to register complaints against Turkey in international courts,” the statement added.

The Kurdistan Region's border areas have come under fire from both Turkish and Iranian strikes over the past 11 days, as part of a military offensive with the stated aim of targeting suspected positions of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in the region.

The Turkish Defense Ministry has said it has hit hundreds of targets in the mountains between Turkey and Iraq as part of a combined aerial and land-based assault dubbed Operation Claw-Eagle, which began on June 15.