Baghdad on Thursday demanded Ankara immediately halt its assault in northern Iraq, where Turkish special forces and helicopters have been targeting Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) hideouts.
Turkey early Wednesday launched a cross-border operation into the mountainous regions of northern Iraq where the PKK, considered by Ankara to be a "terrorist" group, is thought to be hiding out.
Iraq's foreign ministry summoned Turkish ambassador Fatih Yildiz on Thursday and handed him a "strongly-worded protest note calling for a halt to such provocative actions."
"We stress that Turkey must stop its bombardment and withdraw its attacking forces from Iraqi territory," the ministry said in a statement.
"We affirm our categorical rejection of these violations," it added.
It was the second time in a week that Baghdad summoned Yildiz, who was also called to the foreign ministry on Tuesday following Turkish bombardment in northern Iraq, also against PKK hideouts.
After that meeting, Yildiz said he had told Iraqi officials that if Baghdad did not take action against the PKK fighters, Ankara would continue to fight the group wherever it is.
Turkey’s Defense Ministry said on Thursday that Turkish forces have hit more than 500 Kurdish targets in northern Iraq as part of “Operation Claw-Tiger" in the region against the PKK.
Turkey began expanding its military footprint in Iraq last summer in an intense operation against PKK targets following the July 17 assassination in Irbil of Osman Kose, who worked for the Turkish Consulate there. Ankara has blamed the PKK for his killing.
Iraq on Thursday also summoned Iranian Ambassador Iraj Masjedi to protest the bombardment of border villages in the Haji Omran area outside of Irbil the previous day. The shelling resulted in property damages to the villages, the statement said.
Iran routinely attacks its own Kurdish rebels who have bases in northern Iraq. In a statement, the Iraqi ministry condemned the attack and called on Iran to respect Iraq’s sovereignty and encouraged bilateral cooperation to maintain security along the shared border.
