Turkey offers assistance to Iraq after deadly ISIL attack

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım phoned Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Ibadi on July 3 to extend the condolences of the Turkish people over the attack carried out by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) over the weekend, the agency reported on July 4. 

Yıldırım strongly condemned the attack and said Turkey stood by Iraq, its people and its government during the difficult time, the agency said, adding that the premier also expressed Turkey’s readiness to transport the wounded to Turkey for treatment.  

Both Turkey and Iraq are being targeted by terrorists and their security and stability are linked, Yıldırım told his Iraqi counterpart, underlining the importance of a fight against all terrorist organizations without differentiating whether it is ISIL or the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). 

Yıldırım also reiterated that Turkey regarded the sensitivities of Iraq as its own and would continue to stand with Iraq in its anti-terror fight. 

The agency said al-Abadi thanked Yıldırım for his messages and expressed his willingness to improve bilateral cooperation on the basis of common interests and sensitivities. Al-Abadi also said the Iraqi people felt the pain of the terrorist attack that hit Istanbul last week.

The relationship between Turkey and Iraq has been strained after the former established a military base near Mosul to ostensibly train local Iraqis in their fight against ISIL. The Bashiqa Base is still functioning after Turkey reduced the number of its troops in a bid to reduce tensions with Baghdad.


Erdoğan: DAESH is a bloodsucking monster 

In a written statement late on July 3, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan condemned the attack in Baghdad, offering his sympathy for the people of Iraq. 

“Turkey can best understand the pain caused by bomb attacks in Iraq. The bloody-handed terrorist organization, DAESH, has also just conducted a terror attack that claimed the lives of 45 innocent civilians in our country,” Erdoğan said, using an Arabic acronym for ISIL. 

DAESH has “declared war against Islam and Muslims by using the name of Islam,” Erdoğan added. 

“We should all together carry out a strong struggle against this organization that harms Islam. After the Baghdad attacks, we call on the entire Islamic world and humanity to cooperate to save our region and the world from this bloodsucking monster,” he said. 

Erdoğan stressed that “supporting terror and terrorist organizations can never be justified,” adding that “countries which try to carry out their plans through using these organizations will inevitably become the next targets of terrorists.” 

“That’s why we warn everybody, Western countries, particularly members of the U.N. Security Council to maintain a principled line in the face of terrorist organizations,” he said.