Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan meets Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein in Jeddah on Aug. 25, 2025, on the sidelines of the OIC foreign ministers session.
Turkey says Fidan remarks on Iraq ‘distorted,’ rejects interference accusation
BAGHDAD — Turkey’s Foreign Ministry said Wednesday that remarks by Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan regarding Iraq were misinterpreted, after Iraq summoned the Turkish ambassador to express reservations and reject what it described as interference in its internal affairs.
Spokesperson Öncü Keçeli said “certain statements made by H.E. Hakan Fidan during an interview on a television channel on 9 February 2026 have been distorted by some media outlets in Iraq.”
Keçeli said Fidan’s remarks were “intended to draw attention to the threat posed to Iraq’s territorial integrity and security by the PKK terrorist organization, which has established itself in parts of Iraqi territory, particularly in Sinjar, Makhmur, and Qandil.”
“Minister Fidan underscored our determination to ensure the complete eradication of the terrorist organization from Iraqi territory, as in Syria, and the necessity of sustaining and further strengthening our existing cooperation with the Iraqi administration in this field,” the statement said.
“We therefore reject the distortion of Minister Fidan’s statements by certain circles, taken out of context and portrayed as interference in Iraq’s internal affairs,” it added. “We reiterate Türkiye’s support for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of our neighbor Iraq.”
Earlier Wednesday, Iraq’s Foreign Ministry summoned Ambassador Anil Bora Inan following Fidan’s Feb. 9 CNN Turk interview.
Deputy Foreign Minister Mohammed Hussein Bahr al-Uloom said the statements “represent an offense to the friendly relations between Iraq and Turkey” and “constitute interference in Iraqi internal affairs and a breach of diplomatic norms.”
On Sinjar, he stressed that “the file of Sinjar and other Iraqi areas is a purely national matter, handled according to national priorities and mechanisms,” reaffirming “the rejection of any external interference to impose solutions or use this file for political or military influence.”
In the interview, Fidan said: “After finishing the Syrian side regarding the SDF and the PKK, there is also the Iraqi side, which must make a wiser decision.” He added: “The PKK was established against Turkey, but it does not have any territory in Turkey that it occupies or can occupy. In Iraq, on the contrary, it occupies vast areas of land.”