Iraq wants Turkey to co-operate over Kurds

Iraq’s foreign minister has called on Ankara to co-ordinate with Baghdad in its military campaign against Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) positions in northern Iraq following accusations that Turkish forces crossed the border into Iraq last week.

Iraq has been mostly silent about Turkish airstrikes against the Kurdish militants which began in July and focus mainly on targets in the mountainous area of northern Iraq near borders with Turkey and Iran.

Ibrahim al-Jaafari said on Saturday he had summoned the Turkish ambassador last week to object to what he called a violation of Iraqi sovereignty.