Iraq to summon Turkish envoy over Erdogan's remarks

The Iraqi Foreign Ministry says it will summon the Turkish ambassador to Baghdad in protest at recent remarks by President Rajab Tayyib Erdoghan, branding Iraq's volunteer forces as terrorists.

In a statement released on Thursday, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Ahmed Gamal said the Turkish envoy would be handed a formal protest note.

In an interview with the Doha-based Al Jazeera broadcaster on Wednesday, Erdoghan labeled that the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) – commonly known by the Arabic name Hashd al-Sha’abi – as a terrorist outfit.

"In the fight against Daesh in Iraq there is something striking. It's interesting, the Iraqi parliament says the Hashd al-Sha’abi is not a terror group but what is interesting is who is behind this terror group," Erdoghan said.

Earlier on Thursday, PMU spokesman Ahmed al-Assadi said Erdoghan’s claims represented a “flagrant intervention” in Iraq’s affairs and “a violation against an Iraqi security institution” that is “recognized by the parliament and the state.”

SS