Vedant Patel, the US State Department Spokesperson, has urged Turkey to “respect Iraqi sovereignty”. The comments were made in a press briefing on 2 July.
Turkey has moved thousands of troops and hundreds of tanks into Duhok Governorate in Iraqi Kurdistan over the last week, in an escalation of its attacks on the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
The US State Department has also urged Turkey to “protect civilians from harm”.
Turkey is occupying large swathes of the Kurdistan Region in northern Iraq, prompting protests from local people, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and the umbrella Kurdistan National Congress (KNK).
The Turkish military has installed new military checkpoints in the region, and is reportedly stopping civilians and demanding IDs.
Turkey has carried out more than 800 attacks on the KRI this year, according to the Community Peacemaker Teams – an international group monitoring the area.
The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) has been widely criticised for failing to take any position on these developments.
In April this year, both the Iraqi Federal and the KDP gave the green light to a Turkish invasion of northern Iraq, in return for a lucrative Turkish deal on infrastructure, oil and water. The deal was made after a visit by Turkish President Recep Tayipp Erdoğan to Erbil (Hewlêr).
Media is reporting that another high-ranking Turkish delegation is likely to visit Baghdad in the coming days.
