Kadhimi Unites Iraqi Forces, Escalates Measures against Ankara

Arab World

July 23rd, 8:14am

Baghdad - Asharq Al-Awsat

Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi during his participation in the funeral procession of the victims of the Dohuk attack, northern Iraq (Reuters)

The recent Turkish bombing of a tourist resort in Dohuk Governorate in the Kurdistan region of Iraq has unified the positions of the various Iraqi forces, including those that differ with each other, or that have good relations with Turkey. The bombing had targeted civilians and led to the death and injury of dozens, triggering a massive wave of popular and political discontent nationwide. On Thursday, the Iraqi government began taking unprecedented escalatory steps and declared national mourning in the country. Despite the intervention of the security forces, angry Iraqi protesters took down and burned the Turkish flag from the Turkish embassy building in Iraq. This coincided with the Iraqi government preparing a protest note that will be sent to the UN Security Council, in the next few days, with the aim of deterring Turkey from carrying out similar actions in the future. Iraqi leaderships, including those who have differences with Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi, have heeded the call for holding joint discussions on the repercussions of the Turkish bombing of the Dohuk resort. Prominent figures who attended the meetings included Nouri al-Maliki, Ammar al-Hakim, Haider al-Abadi, and Falih Al-Fayyadh. For his part, former Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari called for forming a tripartite Iraqi-Kurdish-Turkish committee to investigate the attack. “What the Turkish officials do not understand in targeting a civilian tourist resort in Zakho is that all the innocent martyrs are Iraqi Arabs from southern Iraq, who came for tourism and vacation from the farthest point from their country,” tweeted Zebari. According to Hussein Allawi, who is an advisor to al-Kadhimi, the Iraqi government’s position came in three tracks. Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, Allawi identified those tracks as represented by a package of directives from al-Kadhimi, a diplomatic document that was handed to the Turkish embassy, and the prime minister’s meeting with Iraqi leaderships.

from Asharq AL-awsat https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/3774721/kadhimi-unites-iraqi-forces-escalates-measures-against-ankara