Turkish embassy ignores accusations and "mourns" the Zakho attack victims
Shafaq News / The Turkish embassy in Baghdad extended condolences to the Iraqi people, 24 hours following the Bloody Turkish bombardment that targeted Zakho district.
The embassy said in a post on Facebook, "We mourn our Iraqi brothers who were martyred by the PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party) terrorist organization."
The embassy seemed to be ignoring the accusations the Turkish army is facing, regarding its involvement in the incident.
Turkey on Wednesday refuted claims by Iraqi state media that it had carried out a strike on a mountain resort in Iraq's northern Duhok governorate that killed eight tourists and wounded another 23 people, saying the attack was a terror act.
The "fierce artillery bombing" hit a resort in Zakho, a city on the border between Iraq's Kurdistan region and Turkey, Iraq state TV said.
Children were amongst the victims, including a 1-year-old, the Kurdish health minister said in a statement, adding that all the victims died before reaching a hospital.
"We go towards the mountainside, there are strikes. We go towards the waterfall, there are strikes. We go towards this side, there are strikes," said Mustafa Aala, 24, who was at the resort with a friend when the attack occurred.
"We pulled up the fence that was around the waterfall. We looked from inside, I saw children lying on the ground....It's a scene that I've never seen in my life," Aala added.
Turkey's foreign ministry said Ankara was saddened to hear of the casualties in the attack, and added that Turkey took maximum care to avoid civilian casualties or damaging historic, cultural sites in its counter-terrorism operations against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militia and others.
"Turkey is ready to take every step for the truth to come out," the ministry said in a statement, adding that Turkish military operations were in line with international laws.
"We call on the Iraqi government to not make remarks influenced by the heinous terrorist organization's rhetoric and propaganda, and to engage in cooperation to uncover the perpetrators of this cruel act," it said, referring to the PKK.
