Ankara brushes off Iraqi first lady’s accusations labeling Turkey as ‘invader’

ANKARA — Turkey’s Defense Ministry on Thursday dismissed Iraqi First Lady Shanaz Ibrahim Ahmed’s accusations against Turkish armed forces over its ongoing operations in northern Iraq against Kurdish militants. 

“It is clear that these statements and accusations do not reflect the general sentiment in Iraq,” a high-level Turkish Defense Ministry official told reporters on background.

His remarks came in response to Ahmed, the wife of Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid, accusing Turkey of causing the displacement of civilians in northern Iraq, as well as the destruction of large swaths of agricultural areas, during the Turkish armed forces’ operations against Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants. Headquartered in northern Iraq, the PKK has been fighting against Turkish forces for Kurdish self-rule inside Turkey since the 1980s and is considered a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union. 

In an unusual effrontery, the first lady wrote on X that “innocent civilians are forced to flee their homes and find refuge in displacement camps.”