Permanent Representative of Iraq to the United Nations, Mohammad Hussein Bahr Aluloom said at a Security Council meeting about the situation in Iraq on Wednesday that From now on, the attacks of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) can no longer be an excuse for Turkish forces to remain on Iraqi soil."
The Iraqi envoy called for the withdrawal of all Turkish troops from the country at his speech at a UN Security Council meeting.
According to local Iraqi media, Bahr Aluloom said that Baghdad has lodged a formal complaint against Ankara to protest over the Turkish military actions inside Iraq.
Turkey has long been violating the territorial integrity of northern Iraq by its alleged operations against the PKK elements. The PKK, which has been fighting Ankara government for the past 35 years, is considered a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States and the European Union. Turkey says the armed group has killed more than 40,000 Turkish citizens, including women and children in its decades-long campaign.
The Turkish military has conducted several operations against the PKK presence in northern Iraq despite huge opposition from Iraqi officials.
The Turkish operations forced a large number of Iraqi Kurdish citizens to evacuate their houses for safer places in the north of the country while they have also caused great damage to the farms and orchards as well as the environment in the northern Iraqi Kurdistan region.
KI/FNA14010228001045