Iraq cancelled a 13 August visit by the Turkish Defence Minister, Hulusi Akar, to the country, following condemnation of a Turkish drone strike in the Erbil province that killed two Iraqi border guards, according to an Iraqi Foreign Ministry statement.
The Turkish ambassador in Iraq has been summoned to Baghdad after the Turkish drone attack.
"We are announcing the cancellation of the visit by the Turkish defense minister to Iraq, scheduled for Thursday. The Foreign Ministry will summon the Turkish ambassador and hand him a note of protest in connection with the attack", Sputnik cited the Iraqi Foreign Ministry as saying.
Earlier on Tuesday the Iraqi government reported that at least two servicemen had been killed in a drone strike against a military vehicle in the Sidekan area. According to the Al-Sumaria TV channel, five Iraqi servicemen were killed, along with ten members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). Iraq condemned the attack, denouncing "repeated military violations" by Turkey as "dangerous violation of Iraqi sovereignty, international law and the UN Charter".
