The Iraqi Olympic team announced on Sunday that it will be
withdrawing from a sports event set to take place in Turkey in August,
in protest of the recent bloody bombardment of Duhok province which has
been attributed to Ankara, according to a statement from the Olympic
committee.
“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,” read the statement from the committee.
A tourist resort in Duhok’s Zakho was the subject of artillery shelling on Wednesday, claiming the lives of nine Iraqi civilians and injuring 23 others. Erbil and Iraq have accused Turkey of being behind the attack, but Ankara has repeatedly denied the allegations.
The attack by the Turkish government last week is not going away. AL MAYADEEN notes, "The Iraqi government sent a letter to the United Nations Security Council on Sunday saying that Baghdad documented more than 22,740 violations committed by the Turkish armed forces." And Sinan Mahmoud (THE NATIONAL) reports:
The United Nations Security Council will hold an emergency session on Tuesday to discuss Wednesday’s bombardment in northern Iraq that Baghdad blames on Turkey, Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein has said.
The attack on a tourist resort in the district of Zakho in Iraq’s northern, semi-autonomous Kurdish region killed nine holidaymakers, including a child, and wounded 31 others.
Iraq's government has blamed the assault on Turkish troops, who have launched incursions against the proscribed Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, inside Iraqi territory since the 1980s. Ankara has denied it was behind the attack and instead accused the PKK.
Rufus in Toronto Tweets:
Other than print media -- such as the ASSOCIATED PRESS and WSWS, it's difficult to name US outlets that have covered the attack. Why hasn't THE NEWSHOUR or CNN, for example, brought on photo journalist Ismael Adnan to discuss the attack? His AFP photos have been all over, including the front page of THE NEW YORK TIMES?
Is there a reason TV media is avoiding the story?
Suhad Talabany Tweets:
Turkey's response to the outcry? To establish another illegal military post in northern Iraq: "The new Turkish base is located in the Amedi (Al-Emadiyeh) district in the north of Dohuk province."
