"The ministry also rejects these attacks and strongly denies any coordination between Baghdad and Ankara in this regard," stated ministry spokesperson Ahmed Mahjoub on Friday.
He also renewed Baghdad's call for the withdrawal of Turkish forces in Bashiqa, calling their presence a "violation of international conventions" and of Iraqi "sovereignty."
The ministry added that their relations with Ankara "shall be based on a unified vision for eliminating terrorism in all forms and preserve the lives of civilians."
Turkish air forces conducted an airstrike in the areas of the Shingal district held by the Shingal Protection Units (YBS) on Wednesday. They killed local PKK leader Ismail Ozden, who took the nom de guerre Zaki Shingali, and four other YBS fighters. Haval Mazlum, the general commander of the group in Shingal, was wounded.
Ozden was from Batman province in Turkey. On Saturday, a mass ceremony will take place at 3 p.m. in Shingal, according to ANF — media close to the PKK.
The PKK Executive Committee confirmed “comrade” Shingali was killed. They condemned the attack and called Shingali a “valiant freedom fighter of the people of Kurdistan,” serving “the Yezidi Kurdish people” for 40 years. He had been in Shingal since 2014.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi met in Ankara with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday when they discussed border security.
"In the security case, and the topic of controlling the border, our stance is clear in that we reject all assaults starting from Iraqi territory on the neighbor Turkey or any of Iraq's neighbors,” Abadi said.
Erdogan told Abadi he has expectations from Iraq regarding PKK.
Abadi reiterated that Iraq was committed to its constitution that prohibits aggression against neighboring countries.
"We denounce such aggression and stand against it," he said.
Erdogan affirmed both countries’ fight against “terrorism.”
Turkish Presidential Spokesperson Ibrahim Kalin said on Thursday after a cabinet meeting that operations "similar to Sinjar will continue intensely going forward."
On Friday, Turkish warplanes heavily bombed PKK bases in the Qandil Mountains and Balakayati region.
