Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry stressed to his Iraqi counterpart Fouad Hussein that Egypt denounces any Turkish practices that detract from Iraq's sovereignty and violate its territories two days after a Turkish drone strike targeted an Iraqi border guard patrol north of Irbil leaving three dead. Shoukry stressed to Hussein in a phone call late on Wednesday Egypt's full support for Iraq in preserving its security, according to a statement released by the ministry's spokesman Ahmed Hafez.
The two ministers agreed to maintain coordination to counter current challenges, the spokesman noted.
The Iraqi armed forces had announced on Tuesday the death of three personnel, including two commanders, in a Turkish drone strike near the border between the two countries as part of Turkey's operations against Kurdish militias without the permission of the Iraqi government.
In an official statement earlier on Wednesday, Egypt condemned the Turkish strike saying “it is a rejected the violation of Iraq's sovereignty and this new threat to regional security and stability,” adding that Egypt offered its deepest condolences to the families of the Iraqi army victims and the Iraqi army.
“Egypt as a government and people stands in solidarity with the Iraqi government and people against such provokative practices and it asserts the necessity of respecting Iraqi sovereignty and the unity of territories against any foreign intervention,” the statement added.
