Tourism Authority: Turkish attack in Zakho will not affect tourism in Iraq

Baghdad-INA

The Tourism Authority confirmed Wednesday that the Turkish targeting of a resort in Zakho will not affect tourism in Iraq.
 
The head of the Authority, Dhafer Mahdi, told the Iraqi News Agency (INA) that "the Authority issued a warning to tourists not to go to areas witnessing armed conflict."
 
He added, "We currently direct to travel to the governorates of Erbil and Sulaymaniyah," noting that "the Turkish targeting of a resort in Zakho will not affect the level of tourism in Iraq."
 
Earlier, a tourist site in Zakho was subjected to Turkish bombardment, killing 9 people and wounding 22 others, including women and children.
 
 
This attack met with a great wave of anger in Iraq, where demonstrations denounced the bombing, and the Iraqi government took a number of decisions, including submitting a complaint to the UN Security Council, which held its session at dawn today, to discuss the attack.

In a speech during the Security Council session, Foreign Minister Fouad Hussein affirmed that Iraq welcomes the Security Council's statement condemning the blatant Turkish aggression, indicating that the Turkish army committed an aggression against the territory and sovereignty of Iraq and the lives of its citizens.
 
He added that the Turkish aggression resulted in the death of 9 civilians, including one child, and the wounding of 33 civilians, explaining that the Turkish aggression constitutes a military aggression against Iraq's sovereignty and a threat to regional and international peace and security.
 
He stated, "We collected evidence from the site of the attack, and it included fragments of heavy artillery projectiles used by the Turkish army, pointing out that the recent aggression is tangible evidence before the Council that Turkey continues to ignore Iraq's demands to stop its violations."
 
He also indicated, "We sent 296 protest notices to Turkey against its violations, warning against the continued aggressive behavior of the Turkish army, which may push things to unimaginable consequences."
 
He stated, "There is a state of popular anger sweeping Iraq from south to north due to the Turkish aggression," explaining that "the Iraqi government affirms its adherence to an approach that calls for resolving the accumulated differences through diplomatic channels."
 
He called on "the Council to exercise its responsibilities in maintaining international peace and security," noting "the importance of issuing an urgent resolution obligating Turkey to withdraw its occupying military forces from all Iraqi lands."
 
Hussein called on the Council to add an item on the situation between Iraq and Turkey on the agenda of the Security Council, noting that "Turkey is invoking baseless arguments linked to an internal problem related to the Kurdistan Workers' Party."