Iraq summons Turkish ambassador over killing of national protester

Maintaining sovereignty of Iraq, ensuring security of citizens, government's main duty, says foreign ministry

Iraq's Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned on Sunday the Turkish ambassador in Baghdad to protest the murder of a national demonstrator by the Turkish army in the Duhok governorate, in the Iraqi-Kurdistan region.
The ministry said in a statement that it rejects the repeated Turkish violations of the Iraqi airspace which breach the country's sovereignty and threaten citizens' lives.
"Iraq firmly condemns any transgression of the security and sovereignty of Iraq or the use of its territory to attack any neighbouring country," according to the statement.
It added that maintaining the sovereignty of Iraq and ensuring the security of its citizens are the government's main duty.
On Friday, the Turkish troops opened fire on Iraqi demonstrators who attempted to enter a Turkish military base in Duhok, close to the Turkish-Iraqi border. An Iraqi citizen was killed, and others were wounded before the Turkish troops fled the scene.
Kurdish media said that the Peshmerga forces arrived in the Turkish military base and forced the demonstrators out of the military base and returned the Turkish equipment that was seized by the protesters.
The demonstrators said that four Iraqi civilians were killed in a Turkish raid launched recently on Kurdish fighters.
Turkey's Ministry of Defence accused the Kurdish Workers Party of inciting this protest against Ankara and attacking its military base. The party was banned in Turkey and classified as a terrorist group.