Iraq withdraws from Islamic Solidarity Games in Turkiye over resort attack 

Iraq yesterday announced that it has withdrawn from the upcoming Islamic Solidarity Games scheduled to take part in neighbouring Turkiye in August to protest against the deadly shelling of a resort in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, which Baghdad has blamed on Ankara.

A statement issued by the country’s Olympic committee explained the move was “In protest of the innocent Iraqi blood that was shed in the city of Zakho… The Executive Office of the Iraqi National Olympic Committee decided, in its emergency meeting this morning, to withdraw from the fifth Islamic Solidarity Games.”

The withdrawal was in line with the stance of the Iraqi government and parliament as well as the majority of Iraqis, the statement added.

On 20 July, the Barakh tourist resort in the Zakho District of Kurdistan’s Duhok province was subject to Turkish air raids which killed at least nine civilians, including two children, wounding dozens more. Many of the victims were southern Iraqis. Hundreds of Iraqi tourists come to the Kurdish region during the peak of summer where the weather is relatively cooler than the rest of the country.

Condemning the attack, Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi said: “The Turkish forces committed a blatant violation of the sovereignty of Iraq.”

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However, Turkiye’s Foreign Ministry has denied Ankara was behind the attack, and suggested instead that the Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK) were responsible. Turkiye, the US and EU consider the PKK a terrorist organisation following a decades-long insurgency against Ankara.

“We call on the Iraqi government to not make remarks influenced by the heinous terrorist organisation’s rhetoric and propaganda, and to engage in cooperation to uncover the perpetrators of this cruel act,” the ministry said in reference to the PKK.

A day following the incident, protests were held across some Iraqi provinces. In Baghdad protesters surrounded the Turkish embassy and removed Turkish flags.

In response to the attack, the Iraqi government summoned the Turkish ambassador and recalled its chargé d’affaires from Turkiye while putting on hold plans to name a new ambassador to Ankara. Baghdad also lodged a complaint to the UN Security Council against Turkiye’s aggression.

A diplomatic source told Al-Iraqia that “at the request of Iraq, the UN Security Council has set next Tuesday as a date for an emergency session regarding the Turkish aggression on Iraqi territory.”

Turkiye is set to host the fifth Islamic Solidarity Games from 9-19 August in Konya. The Games are a multi-sport event held every four years between countries that are members of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). The first edition was held in Saudi Arabia in 2005.

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