The Iraqi parliament will establish a specific commission to identify the types of chemical weapons used by Turkey in operations against Kurdish fighters in north Iraq, Yeni Yaşam newspaper reported, citing an Iraqi MP who talked to Rojnews on Saturday.
“We are following the Turkish state’s attacks on residential areas in northern Iraq,” said Hadi Amirli, a member of the Iraqi Parliament’s Security and Defence Commission. “We have received information that Turkey has been using banned chemical weapons. This is an act that violates the principles of neighbourhood and international law,” he told Rojnews.
The Iraqi parliament earlier this month mandated the same commission, along with the International Relations Commission, to investigate Turkey’s attacks inside the autonomous Kurdistan region in northern Iraq.
Turkey has in recent years extended its military footprint in northern Iraq through military incursions against Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) bases. The latest offensives, dubbed Operations Claw-Tiger and Claw-Eagle, have been continuing since 2020 and have strained Ankara’s relations with Baghdad.
The PKK leadership claims that the Turkish military has been using chemical weapons against Kurdish fighters in the Zap, Avaşîn and Metîna regions. A footage shared by Kurdish fighters this week sparked discussions of Ankara’s use of banned chemical weapons.
The Turkish government denies the allegations and say such claims are attempts to throw dirt on the Turkish military.
However, despite Ankara’s denials, the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) said it had found indirect evidence of possible violations during a two-expert mission’s field trip to northern Iraq in September.
