Angry Iraq buries dead from shelling blamed on Turkey
Baghdad, Iraq – (AFP):
An angry and grieving Iraq on Thursday buried nine holidaymakers — including a newlywed — killed in the artillery bombardment of a Kurdish hill village.
The government has blamed neighboring Turkey, which denied its troops were responsible and instead accused rebels of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
Germany called for an urgent investigation.
Wednesday’s shelling in the Zakho district village of Parakh also wounded 23 people, the majority of them domestic tourists seeking respite from the heat of the plains in the mountains of the Kurdish north.
The deaths prompted angry anti-Turkish demonstrations in cities across Iraq. In Baghdad, dozens of demonstrators protested outside the Turkish visa office early Thursday, despite a heavy police presence.
The Turkish foreign ministry denied responsibility for the bombardment, saying these “kinds of attacks” were committed by “terrorist organizations.”
Iraq and Turkey are trade partners but Ankara’s successive offensives against PKK rear bases in the north have been a persistent source of tension in relations, particularly when they have caused civilian casualties.
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