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Iraq has demanded an apology from Turkey over a drone strike that Syria’s Kurds said was aimed at their military commander, a western ally in the fight against Isis.
Iraq’s president called the attack on Sulaimaniya airport in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region a “flagrant aggression on Iraq and its sovereignty”. “We call on the Turkish government to take responsibility and present an official apology,” Iraq’s presidency said on Saturday, adding that Ankara had no legal justification to continue “terrorising civilians under the pretext that forces hostile to it are present on Iraqi soil”.
The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a Kurdish-led militia that controls large parts of northeastern Syria, said the attack was aimed at its leader Mazloum Abdi. The SDF confirmed Abdi’s presence at the airport at the time of Friday’s attack. Abdi, who was not hurt in the incident, on Saturday condemned “the targeting of Sulaimaniya airport by Turkey”.
Abdi said in an interview with the Kurdish North press agency that he had been travelling in a convoy that included US and coalition troops. Asked the reason for his trip, he said the SDF had “joint operations” with Iraqi and Kurdish anti-terrorism forces that was known to the US-led coalition.
The US arms and trains the SDF in its campaign against Isis and keeps about 800 troops in Syria to support the SDF. A spokesman for US Central Command did not respond to a request for comment.
Abdi said the attack was “a clear message from the Turks that they are bothered and oppose our international relations and they want to damage them”. Turkey’s foreign ministry did not respond to a request for comment.
Turkey frequently conducts air and small-scale land operations in northern Iraq, home to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ party (PKK), which has waged a decades-long insurgency against the Turkish state. The army has also staged three full-scale incursions into Syria since 2016 to fight the PKK’s Syrian affiliate, the People’s Protection Units (YPG).
The PKK is listed as a terrorist organisation in Europe and the US. But across the border in Syria, the YPG are the dominant force in the SDF. Washington’s support for the SDF has been a long-running point of friction between the Nato allies.
Friday’s drone strike comes days after Turkey closed its airspace to flights to and from the Sulaimaniya airport until July 3, citing an alleged increase in PKK activity and its “infiltration” of the airport.
That decision followed a helicopter crash last month which killed nine Kurdish militants who were on board. The incident infuriated Ankara over claims the PKK was in possession of helicopters.
The SDF later said it lost eight fighters and one commander when the two helicopters crashed due to bad weather. The SDF said those fighters had been in Iraq for an “exchange of expertise” in the fight against Isis.
Additional reporting by Adam Samson in Ankara
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