Iran Strongly Condemns Attack on Turkish Diplomat in Erbil

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Seyyed Abbas Mousavi has strongly condemned a terrorist attack against members of the Turkish consulate in the Iraqi city of Erbil, which killed a diplomat and two other members of the consulate.

Security personnel near a restaurant in Erbil, in the Kurdish region of Iraq, where gunmen opened fire on Turkish consular officials on Wednesday. / Photo by Reuters

In a statement on Wednesday, Mousavi also expressed sympathy with the bereaved families of the victims.

“Terrorism is a horrendous phenomenon that has inflicted extensive damages on regional states,” he noted.

He also noted that the only way to combat terrorism is that the international community jointly fight against terrorist groups by putting an end to political, financial, ideological, and arms support for them.”

A Turkish diplomat and two Iraqis were killed Wednesday in a gun attack in a restaurant in the Kurdish-controlled region of Iraq, according to the Turkish and Iraqi governments.

Turkey’s foreign minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, confirmed the death of an official of the Turkish consulate, and said that one Iraqi had been killed and another seriously wounded. The second Iraqi died later.

The two Iraqis worked for the consulate, said Dr. Ahmed al-Sahaf, an Iraqi Foreign Ministry spokesman. One was a guard for the Turkish diplomat.

It was not immediately clear who carried out the shooting or why. Iraqi and Turkish authorities said they were investigating the attack.

IFP Editorial Staff

The IFP Editorial Staff is composed of dozens of skilled journalists, news-writers, and analysts whose works are edited and published by experienced editors specialized in Iran News. The editor of each IFP Service is responsible for the report published by the Iran Front Page (IFP) news website, and can be contacted through the ways mentioned in the "IFP Editorial Staff" section.