Turkish Diplomat Assassinated In Brazen Daytime Attack On Erbil Restaurant

[Swordsmyth]

A brazen daylight assassination raid by unknown attackers on a restaurant in the northern Iraqi city of Erbil has left at least one Turkish diplomat dead and two others injured. "They were shot at point blank range by unknown assailants," one eyewitness described of the afternoon attack which local security sources described as a "serious" and developing situation.
Despite global headlines initially identifying three diplomats killed, Turkey's Foreign Ministry confirmed "One personnel of the Erbil embassy was killed in an armed attack today afternoon as he was outside the embassy building." However, it appears multiple diplomatic personnel were shot, with one Iraqi bystander possibly killed. The shooting comes during an uptick in Turkey's highly controversial cross-border operations against the PKK in northern Iraq.

Iraq's Irbil is the seat of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), which Turkey has historically had very tense relations with as it's long attempted to root out the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). Ankara has in the past accused Iraq and Syria of harboring Kurdish "terrorists" at war with the Turkish state across its border.
Since 2018 and multiple times before, notably in 2008, Turkey's armed forces have been embroiled in military offensives in northern Iraq, which both the KRG and the federal government in Baghdad have condemned as illegal incursions and a violation of Iraqi sovereignty.
Conflicting reports suggest more may have died, given at least three were shot by "unknown assailants" per Al Jazeera:

Security sources earlier told Al Jazeera that at least three Turkish security personnel were killed in Wednesday's attack. Among those reported killed on Wednesday was the Turkish deputy council-general.
Al Jazeera's Osama Bin Javaid, citing security sources, said the incident took place in the upscale neighbourhood of Ankawa.
"They were shot at point blank range by unknown assailants," he told, reporting from Iraq's capital, Baghdad.

The area of the shooting is being described as among "the safest in the city" according to reports.
And further, one well-known US war correspondent has pointed out the restaurant is located directly across from the US consulate in the city.


More at: https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-...bil-restaurant

[RonZeplin]

the restaurant is located directly across from the US consulate in the city.

Most likely retaliation by the DOD/CIA for buying Russian S400 missiles.



Happy & healthy, spends a lot at Donnell's Terrorist Supply.

[Danke]

This is what it looks like from the air, pretty cool city:

[Swordsmyth]

Turkey on Thursday launched an air attack on Iraqi Kurdistan in response to the killing of a Turkish diplomat in the region, the country's defence minister said.The Turkish vice consul to Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region was shot dead Wednesday in the local capital Arbil. Police sources said two other people were also killed.
There was no claim of responsibility for the shooting, but many Iraqi experts have pointed to the probability that the Turkish separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which Ankara considers a terrorist group, was behind the attack.
"Following the evil attack in Arbil, we have launched the most comprehensive air operation on Qandil and dealt a heavy blow to the (PKK) terror organisation," defence minister Hulusi Akar said in a statement.
Targets such as "armaments positions, lodgings, shelters and caves belonging to terrorists" were destroyed.
"Our fight against terror will continue with increasing determination until the last terrorist is neutralised and the blood of our martyrs will be avenged," he added.

A spokesman for the PKK's armed branch denied the group was involved in Wednesday's shooting.

More at: https://news.yahoo.com/turkey-launch...020454191.html

[Swordsmyth]

Iraqi Kurdish authorities announced Saturday they had arrested two suspects involved in the murder of three people, including a Turkish diplomat, in the regional capital Arbil this week.The autonomous region's security council first said its counterterrorism unit had arrested "the main perpetrator" Mazloum Dag, a 27-year-old from Turkey's Diyarbakir region.
The council had put out a wanted notice for Dag a day earlier in connection to Wednesday's killing of Turkish Vice Consul Osman Kose and two Iraqi nationals.
It later announced it had also arrested Mohammad Biskesiz, identifying him as "one of the accomplices of Mazloum Dag".
It did not specify Biskesiz's nationality or whether he was apprehended with Dag or separately.
Turkey's Anadolu state news agency said Dag is the brother of Dersim Dag, a member of Turkey's main pro-Kurdish party, the People's Democratic Party (HDP).
The HDP, the country's second largest opposition group, is regularly accused by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of links to Turkey's outlawed separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
The HDP "strongly" condemned the Arbil attack, calling it an "absolutely unacceptable provocation attempt".
It also slammed the accusation that one of its deputies was "designated as a target because of his brother", without mentioning any names.

More at: https://news.yahoo.com/iraq-kurds-ar...142814671.html