Baghdad Hopes Relations With Ankara Will Not Sour Over Turkish Diplomat's Murder In Erbil

Iraq's Foreign Minister Mohamed Ali Alhakim expressed hope on Wednesday that the assassination of an employee of the Turkish consulate general in the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, Erbil, would not negatively affect Ankara's relationship with Baghdad

CAIRO (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 17th July, 2019) Iraq's Foreign Minister Mohamed Ali Alhakim expressed hope on Wednesday that the assassination of an employee of the Turkish consulate general in the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, Erbil, would not negatively affect Ankara's relationship with Baghdad.

Turkish media reported earlier in the day about an armed attack on a restaurant in Erbil, where employees of the Turkish consulate were dining. An Iraqi security source told Sputnik that the deputy consul general of Turkey in Erbil had been killed. The Turkish Foreign Ministry later confirmed the death of one of the employees of the consulate general.

"I hope that this crime will not affect the level and quality of relations between Ankara and Baghdad, but that it may give both countries determination to further develop bilateral relations," Alhakim told Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu in a phone conversation, as quoted by the Iraqi Foreign Ministry.

Following the attack, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned the attack and said that Turkey was working with Iraqi authorities to find the perpetrators.

The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) is thought to be behind the assassination. The Turkish government has been fighting the PKK, which seeks to establish a Kurdish autonomy in Turkey, since the early 1980s. Turkish security forces carry out regular anti-PKK raids across the country and conduct airstrikes against the group in northern Iraq.