Turkish shelling kills nine tourists in the Kurdistan region
Jul 21, 2022
Yesterday, June 20, Turkey shelled Parakhe tourist resort and several other areas in the Kurdistan region's Zakho district, killing nine tourists as they were spending their time in the cool air of the area.
The Kurdistan region is the number one choice for many southern Iraqi tourists leaving the blistering heat of Iraqi summer. The tourists were part of a 200-person tourism group from Baghdad.
Children were among the victims, including a 1-year-old, the Kurdistan region health minister said in a statement that all the victims died before reaching a hospital.
For its part, Turkey denied carrying out the attack. The Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Chavusoglu denied reports that Turkey carried out attacks targeting civilians in the Kurdistan region's Zakho district. Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Thursday that Iraqi authorities should not fall for what he labelled a "trap". Though Iraqi and regional leaders held Turkey responsible.
PUK president Bafel Jalal Talabani extended his condolences to the victims of the attack and called for national unity to end breaching Iraq's sovereignty.
In a statement, the Kurdistan region council of ministers asked Turkey to avoid targeting its civilians and said, "We strongly condemn the shelling of the Parakhe resort near the Darkar border of the Zakho Autonomous Administration by Turkish forces which, unfortunately, caused the death and injury of some tourists."
Muqata Sadr, Iraq's popular cleric and its power broker, called the attack outrageous and demanded an end to the Iraq-Turkey security agreement.
"Turkey becomes more insolent, believing that Iraq can only respond with a weak condemnation from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs," Al-Sadr said on Twitter.
Al-Sadr called for "escalation" and "reducing diplomatic representation with Turkey and closing airports and border crossings between the two countries."
Many pro-Sadrist protesters gathered in front of the Turkish embassy in Baghdad and took down its flag, while others shut down Turkey's Visa centers across Iraq. Citing its visa centers shutting down, Ankara temporarily withheld issuing visas to Iraqi citizens.
The Turkish army has frequently targeted the Kurdistan region, which has based more than 50 military outposts across the Iraqi-Turkish border, and over 15 intelligence bases. Turkey justifies its attack by citing PKK's presence in the northern Kurdistan region.
Northern Kurdistan region is home to many tourist resorts that thousands of tourists visit yearly, especially in the summertime. The attack would discourage thousands of tourists from revisiting the region.
Tourism is one of the crucial sectors that the KRG promotes to diversify its economy. Amal Jalal, head of the Kurdistan region tourism committee, told KurdSat News that they would work to relieve people's worries about the dangers in the tourist resorts.
The Kurdistan region is the number one choice for many southern Iraqi tourists leaving the blistering heat of Iraqi summer. The tourists were part of a 200-person tourism group from Baghdad.
Children were among the victims, including a 1-year-old, the Kurdistan region health minister said in a statement that all the victims died before reaching a hospital.
For its part, Turkey denied carrying out the attack. The Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Chavusoglu denied reports that Turkey carried out attacks targeting civilians in the Kurdistan region's Zakho district. Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Thursday that Iraqi authorities should not fall for what he labelled a "trap". Though Iraqi and regional leaders held Turkey responsible.
PUK president Bafel Jalal Talabani extended his condolences to the victims of the attack and called for national unity to end breaching Iraq's sovereignty.
In a statement, the Kurdistan region council of ministers asked Turkey to avoid targeting its civilians and said, "We strongly condemn the shelling of the Parakhe resort near the Darkar border of the Zakho Autonomous Administration by Turkish forces which, unfortunately, caused the death and injury of some tourists."
Muqata Sadr, Iraq's popular cleric and its power broker, called the attack outrageous and demanded an end to the Iraq-Turkey security agreement.
"Turkey becomes more insolent, believing that Iraq can only respond with a weak condemnation from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs," Al-Sadr said on Twitter.
Al-Sadr called for "escalation" and "reducing diplomatic representation with Turkey and closing airports and border crossings between the two countries."
Many pro-Sadrist protesters gathered in front of the Turkish embassy in Baghdad and took down its flag, while others shut down Turkey's Visa centers across Iraq. Citing its visa centers shutting down, Ankara temporarily withheld issuing visas to Iraqi citizens.
The Turkish army has frequently targeted the Kurdistan region, which has based more than 50 military outposts across the Iraqi-Turkish border, and over 15 intelligence bases. Turkey justifies its attack by citing PKK's presence in the northern Kurdistan region.
Northern Kurdistan region is home to many tourist resorts that thousands of tourists visit yearly, especially in the summertime. The attack would discourage thousands of tourists from revisiting the region.
Tourism is one of the crucial sectors that the KRG promotes to diversify its economy. Amal Jalal, head of the Kurdistan region tourism committee, told KurdSat News that they would work to relieve people's worries about the dangers in the tourist resorts.
