MOFA's full speech during the Security Council session

Baghdad - INA

The Iraqi News Agency (INA) publishes the full text of Iraq's speech delivered by Foreign Minister Fouad Hussein during the special and emergency Security Council session on the Turkish aggression.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs said during his speech, and the Iraqi News Agency (INA) followed him, "The Honorable President of the Security Council, distinguished members of the Security Council, gentlemen in attendance, it is a great honor to be in this Council, to address its members with thanks and gratitude for convening this emergency meeting, and seize this occasion to congratulate Ambassador Ronaldo Costa Filho, Permanent Representative of Brazil, on his country's assumption of the presidency of the Security Council for this month, and for his great and transparent efforts in organizing the work of the Council.

He added, "I would like to welcome the briefing of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General in Iraq, Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), Ms. Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, on the topic of the emergency session of the Council, and the Government of the Republic of Iraq welcomes the statement issued by the Council on Monday, 25 July, condemning this blatant assault.".

Speaking about the details of the attack, he continued, "On Wednesday, July 20, 2022, at 13:50, the Turkish army committed an aggression against the lands and sovereignty of Iraq and the lives of its citizens, by violent artillery bombardment on Iraqi families while they were in the Barkh resort in Dohuk governorate, resulting in the death of 9 civilians. Including one girl, and wounding 33 unarmed civilians, with damage to civilian facilities, and causing material losses. We have informed your esteemed Council, in the letter dated July 21, 2022, with the details of the incident, and Iraq condemns in the strongest terms this blatant aggression committed by the Turkish army against innocent civilians and property. which constitutes a military aggression against the sovereignty, security and territorial integrity of Iraq, and a breach and threat to regional and international peace and security, and is a violation of the provisions of the rules of international law, international humanitarian law and the principles of good neighbourliness, and a violation of the principles and purposes of the Charter of the United Nations and the objectives for which the organization was established.”.

On the Iraqi procedures, Hussein explained that "following the military attack on Iraqi territory, a national committee was formed by the Iraqi government under our leadership to investigate the circumstances of this attack, which collected evidence from the site of the attack, which included fragments of 155 mm heavy artillery projectiles used by the Turkish army in the area." This committee will also carry out the tasks of setting the general guidelines for managing this crisis.".

He stressed that "this aggression is tangible evidence before the Council that Turkey continues to ignore Iraq's demands to stop its continuous military violations of Iraqi sovereignty, and to withdraw its military forces from Iraqi territory, for example, but not limited to, since 2018, 296) (two hundred and ninety-six) were directed. An official bilateral memorandum issued by the Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs to its Turkish counterpart, protesting these violations, which totaled 22,742 violations so far, documented under the identical letters (8) (eight) identical letters addressed from the permanent representative of the Republic of Iraq to both the President of the Security Council and the Secretary-General of the United Nations, issued as official documents of the Security Council, the last of which is the document issued with the symbol S /500/2022 on 06/23/2022, and Iraq has also previously resorted to your esteemed council to hold its session No. 7589 in 2015, regarding the Turkish military incursion into its territory. In this case, we went directly to your esteemed council to file a complaint and document a crime against humanity committed by the Turkish army in broad daylight and in an area devoid of any illegal armed manifestations.

In his speech, Hussein added, "We condemn once again to the international community the illegal presence of the Turkish military forces in Iraqi territory, and warn against the continuation of the aggressive behavior of the Turkish army, which may push things to unimaginable consequences, amid a state of massive popular anger sweeping Iraq from the south to the south." The North in Iraqi Kurdistan, and we renew our condemnation of the Turkish Parliament’s decision taken in October 2021 to extend the authorization for the presence of its forces in Iraq for a period of two years, and we stress that this approach will only cause a loss of security for all.

Hussein continued, "The Government of Iraq affirms its adherence to an approach that calls for resolving the accumulated differences through diplomatic channels, dialogue, building interests and jointcooperation, and on this basis we call on the Council, under Article 35 of the Charter of the United Nations, to exercise its responsibilities in maintaining international peace and security, by issuing an urgent resolution obligating Turkey To withdraw its occupying military forces from all Iraqi lands, under the full supervision of the Council, and bear the consequences of refusing to do so, to end the suffering of the Iraqi people from the continuous Turkish attacks on the airspace, lands and sovereignty of Iraq. The repetition of Turkish violations of Iraqi lands and airspace for several years, which caused continuous casualties among defenseless Iraqi civilians, and the expansion of the number and area of its illegal military presence on Iraqi lands.

Hussein said, "We will undoubtedly hear from the Turkish side today and later, several illegal justifications regarding the presence of his country's military forces inside Iraqi territory, citing baseless arguments related to a Turkish internal problem linked to the Turkish Kurdistan Workers' Party, and allegations of an agreement with Iraq that allows the Turkish military presence." He will also repeat his illegal use of Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations to justify his country’s actions in violation of Iraqi sovereignty, which this same article requires, that Turkey inform the Security Council of its military violations inside Iraqi territory, which is The thing you do not do, and therefore the article you are using is not implemented, but rather violates the Charter of the United Nations.”
He pointed out that "because of this situation, we affirm before the entire international community and through the distinguished council, that there is no security agreement between Iraq and Turkey regarding allowing Turkish forces to penetrate Iraqi territory to hunt down the Turkish Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), in return for Turkey's insistence on the existence of such a type." From the agreement, we also recall that the Turkish side is the cause of this crisis in the first place, through Ankara’s initiative with the Turkish Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in 2013, which included in one of its paragraphs a demand for the party’s militants to withdraw from Turkey into Iraqi territory, completely ignoring our security concerns and our right Sovereignty over our lands, and the Iraqi government confirmed that this measure constitutes a threat to security and peace in Iraq and the region, and the Council was informed of this by a letter from theformer Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iraq to the President of the Security Council in May 2013, and later documented as an official document of the Security Council, and we demanded the Council to stand against such These behaviours.

He pointed out that "in this context, the Government of Iraq rejects Turkey's approach to exporting its internal problems to Iraq and that the settlement of its problems should not be at the expense of Iraq, and at the same time, my government affirms that the federal security authorities whose tasks are to maintain border security coordinate with the security authorities and the forces of The Peshmerga in the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq to take the necessary measures to combat armed and terrorist organizations, as the Iraqi constitution indicates in Article 7 second that the state is committed to fighting terrorism in all its forms, and works to protect its lands from being a headquarters, corridor or arena for its activity.

He stressed that "Iraq presents this issue before the Security Council because of its paramount importance, and our firm belief in the principles and purposes of the Charter of the United Nations, which affirms our common commitment to "practicing tolerance and living together in peace and good neighbourliness" as well as "to unite our forces to maintain international peace and security." The Security Council considers the seriousness of the situation and assumes its responsibility to maintain international peace and security, and to express Iraq's sincere political will and goodwill, we ask the Security Council to form an independent international team to investigate this act of aggression.

In his speech, the Minister of Foreign Affairs summarized Iraq's demands from the Security Council as follows:

1. Issuing a resolution obligating Turkey to withdraw its military forces from all Iraqi lands, since the presence of these forces is illegal and was not at the request of the Iraqi government, and there is no military or security agreement. In this regard, its presence will destabilize the security situation and create instability.

2. Directing a strong condemnation of this aggression, and working to ensure accountability for the perpetrators of this heinous act that targeted civilians, as a threat to Iraqi national security, and to regional and international peace and security, by forming an independent international team to investigate this act of aggression. We demand the inclusion of the item on the situation between Iraq and Turkey on the agenda of the Security Council, given the repeated Turkish violations of Iraqi lands and airspace for several years, which caused casualties among defenseless Iraqis. 

4. Obliging the Turkish government to pay compensation for the losses caused to unarmed civilians, and the resulting halt in economic and tourism activities as a result of this Turkish artillery bombardment.

On the other hand, while Iraq affirms its responsibility in a transparent manner, and the soundness of its position towards the consolidation of regional and international security and stability, Iraq expresses its full readiness to work with the United Nations and other concerned countries in order to expel the elements of the Turkish Kurdistan Workers Party from Iraqi lands because their presence It causes insecurity and creates instability in Iraq."

 He added, "The people of Iraq are following the deliberations of this session today with great interest and great hopes, and look at the United Nations, and this distinguished council, as guarantors of international peace and security. The rights of states are being threatened, and he looks forward to a decisive and effective role for the Council in finding the necessary solutions and preventing any future repercussions of this crisis."
He concluded by saying, "The Government of the Republic of Iraq affirms that it is working hard to contribute positively to resolving conflicts in the region and expanding areas of understanding between neighboring countries through peaceful means, and categorically rejects turning Iraq into a theater for implementing the agendas and interests of countries."