The Sulaymaniyah airport in northern Iraq was allegedly attacked, and the Iraqi government demanded that Turkey apologise and end hostilities on Iraqi land on Saturday.
Turkey has no legal authority to continue “intimidating civilians under the pretext that hostile forces are present on Iraqi soil,” according to a statement from the Iraqi president.
In this respect, we urge the Turkish government to accept responsibility and issue a formal apology, the statement said.
A drone strike on Friday near Sulaymaniyah airport, according to Lawk Ghafuri, director of international media relations for the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG), did not result in any damage, flight delays, or cancellations.
According to a representative of the Turkish defence ministry, no Turkish Armed Forces activity occurred in the area on Friday.
According to an informed source close to the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) leadership and two Kurdish security officials, Mazloum Abdi, the leader of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), and three US military personnel were present close to the airport at the time of the alleged attack.
The event did not result in any injuries or fatalities, according to the three individuals, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
There were US military troops in the convoy, according to a US official, but no one was hurt in the attack on it.
Despite mentioning that he was the target, Abdi denounced the assault on Saturday. On Friday, the SDF refuted the claim that Abdi was a target of the strike.
The SDF is seen by the United States as an ally that has assisted in driving the Islamic State from significant portions of Syria, while Turkey sees the Kurdish-led forces in Syria as terrorists and a danger to its national security.
Over the years, Turkey has carried out several military actions, including airstrikes, in northern Iraq and northern Syria against the Islamic State, the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party, and the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia. (PKK).
The allegations of an assault came days after Turkey banned flights to and from Sulaymaniyah due to what it said was increased PKK insurgent activity there.
Turkey, the US, and the EU all see the banned PKK, which has been in charge of an uprising against the Turkish government since 1984, as a terrorist group.