Türkiye can’t remain inactive amidst happenings in Syria - foreign minister

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has said that Türkiye cannot sit back amidst the current events in Syria.

“Ankara had previously not asked permission to hold anti-terror operations, and will not do so in the future,” Anadolu Agency quotes Cavusoglu as saying on July 21.

The Turkish diplomat also commented on the situation in northern Iraq, where eight people were killed and 23 were injured as a result of an attack on a tourist site, adding that the Turkish army has nothing to do with this bloody incident.

"According to the command of the Turkish Armed Forces, there were no strikes on civilians in the town of Zakho in the Dohuk region in northern Iraq," Cavusoglu noted.

The Turkish foreign minister urged the people and authorities of Iraq not to succumb to the tricks of propaganda by terrorists who are trying to denigrate the Turkish army.

Cavusoglu added that the shelling of the tourist site was carried out by terrorists.